Date: 2017-01-20 05:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Lesbian; Lgbt; Romance; Fiction
Description: Taylor's work buddies always treated her like one of the guys, and that wasn't always a good thing. Like when she finds herself being dragged to a strip club called The Lacy Garter for a bachelor party. She's resigned herself to a night of playing along to get along. Then the lights go down and she sees Jasmine for the first time. Jasmine was marking time waiting for something better to come along. Only she didn't know what "something better" was. All she knew was she could make more in one night at The Lacy Garter than she could in a couple of weeks at her old job. Put up with the bullshit lo

Stripped

Mia Archer

Contents

Stripped

1.
Taylor

2.
Jasmine

3.
Taylor

4.
Jasmine

5.
Taylor

6.
Jasmine

7.
Taylor

8.
Jasmine

9.
Taylor

10.
Jasmine

11.
Taylor

12.
Jasmine

13.
Taylor

14.
Jasmine

15.
Taylor

16.
Jasmine

17.
Taylor

18.
Jasmine

19.
Taylor

20.
Jasmine

21.
Taylor

22.
Jasmine

Want More?

Also by Mia Archer

Secret Lover

1.
Keri

2.
Ashley

3.
Keri

4.
Ashley

5.
Keri

6.
Keri

Want More?

Also by Mia Archer

Stripped

Stripped

By Mia Archer

Copyright 2017 Mia Archer

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Individuals pictured on the cover are models and used for illustrative purposes only.

First digital edition electronically published by Mia Archer, January 2017

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1

Taylor

"I'm sorry, but I just can't help you store client credit card information in the database. It's plaintext. It wasn't designed for that sort of thing," I said.

I paused and waited for the tirade. Sure enough it came. Old Beth on the other end of the line was notorious for not taking no for an answer, even when that “no” was backed up by law. I let her finish her griping and took a deep breath.

There were times when I took a lot of deep breaths on this job. There were even times when I snuck a drink from the bottle in my top drawer that totally didn't have any alcohol in it as far as my boss was concerned.

“You can complain to my supervisor all you want," I said, trying to sound patient and mask the sound of grinding teeth. "But that doesn't change the fact that I’d be assisting you in violating a bunch of laws about consumer privacy and data protection, and I'm not going to do that."

More griping. More ranting. It finally got to me.

"Why am I not going to help you do it? Because your stupidity isn't worth my job," I said.

I reached out and hit the switch that ended the call. I winced as I did it. There would be a complaint about that, but one of the joys of working support for such a small software company was my boss had my back.

Most of the time.

The clients were irritating, but we had the ability to talk back to them which was more than I could say for other tech support jobs I'd worked.

"That sounded like another call with Beth," a voice said from behind me.

I looked at the call board. There wasn't much coming in right now. We were blessedly quiet except for Beth and her stupidity. I sighed. It seemed like she came up with new ways to skirt the law with our software almost every other week, but it wasn't my job to talk her out of it. Only to refuse to help her and document after the fact.

"Just more of the same," I said.

"You look like you could use a drink," Dan said.

I held up a hand and shook my head. "Not a chance. I'm not going out for one of your working lunches. The last time I did that I came back in so shitfaced that that I couldn't think straight for the rest of the shift."

"How is that any different from any other shift you work?" Dan asked.

I flipped him the bird. It was a good-natured bird flipping though. Ribbing each other was one of the few things that kept me sane while working this job.

"Anyway," he continued, ignoring my middle finger. "I wasn’t talking about going out for a working lunch. I was thinking more about Stephen’s bachelor party."

I cocked an eyebrow. "And what on earth makes you think I’d want to be in on a bachelor party?"

Dan shrugged. "Come on Taylor. You're one of the guys!"

I crossed my arms under my chest and spun my chair back and forth. I did that when I was trying to buy time.

They might think I was one of the guys, but I didn't really want to go out with the guys. Not that there was anything wrong with the guys, but there were times when I objected to being automatically included as one of "the guys" just because I happened to be into the ladies.

I mean it was nice that they accepted me, but men could be such pigs. And they seemed to have no problem letting that flag wave high and proud when I was around.

"It's nothing major," Dan said. "A nice low-key affair."

"A low-key affair? Like the time you guys got so drunk Ronald almost didn't make it to his wedding?"

"Yeah! A lot more low-key than that!" Dan said. "Man that was a good time. You don't know what you were missing!"

My lips compressed to a thin frown. I had a pretty good idea of exactly what I'd been missing at that particular outing. They'd told me all about it trying to convince me what a good time I'd missed after the fact, and I decided it was probably a good thing I didn't end up going out that night.

"Sorry," I said. "I'm not interested in going out on a drunken night with the guys where you make questionable decisions and try to convince the groom to have one final fling a week before he's supposed to get married."

"We’re not going to do anything like that," Dan said. "Sure we might buy him a lap dance or something, but that's it. Promise! You don't even have to get one if you don't want, but there will be plenty of scenery…"

I held a hand up. "Hold on a second. Back that up just a little. Lap dance?"

"Well yeah," Dan said. "I mean if we’re taking Stephen to…"

"A strip club?" I finished for him. "You're taking Stephen into a strip club for his bachelor party and you're trying to tell me things won't get out of hand?"

"Well I didn't say things won't get out of hand," Dan said. "I just said we'd be able to keep it under control. That it wouldn't be as bad as Ronald's shindig.”

"I told you about this before damn it," I said. “Just because I'm into girls doesn't mean…"

This time Dan was the one who held up a hand. His next words came out in a singsong voice as though he was repeating something he'd heard plenty of times before. Which was absolutely true.

"It doesn't mean you’re into going out and treating women like pieces of meat like we do.”

He paused for a moment to grin at her. Drive home exactly how many times he’d heard that. Then he went right on.

“Come on though Taylor," he said. "It's Stephen's bachelor party. You know you want to see what he's like when he’s had a little too much."

I pursed my lips. Dan had a point there. He knew me well, and it frustrated me that he knew me so well. That he knew exactly what would get me out to a strip club.

And let me tell you it would take a lot to get me out to one. I'd been dragged to them a few times before and they always struck me as sad affairs. I even dated a girl in college who tried to convince me that strip clubs were somehow liberating for women, but there'd been nothing liberating about seeing women dancing for a few bucks from sad defeated looking older men and drunken younger guys who were constantly skirting the line of getting tossed out on their ass by a bouncer.

Granted that was a little judgmental on my part, but I couldn't help feeling the way I felt about my one experience at a strip club. It wasn't an experience I was keen on repeating, let me tell you.

“Tempting,” I said. "But no. Not a chance."

"What are we talking about here?" another voice chimed in unseen from over my cubicle wall.

Stephen appeared looking over the edge of the cubicle. I sighed and resisted the urge to roll my eyes. It was like the two of them were working together. Which was probably true.

"You're coming to my party tonight," Stephen said. "Right Taylor? It wouldn't be the same without you."

"That's not my thing," I said. "Sorry. You have a good time though."

"But how can I have a good time without my best work buddy there to have fun with me?" Stephen asked.

“That's not playing fair," I said.

"Come on," Stephen persisted. "You know you want to see what happens when you get me in one of those places. Get a few drinks in me?”

"It's going to be awesome man!" Dan said.

I glanced over my shoulder to my computer. Willed someone to call in. I'd even take another call from Beth yelling at me for hanging up on her earlier, but there was nothing.

Of course. The one time I wanted a call to come in was the one time I got nothing. Perfect."

It's not that I was against having a good time. It's just that I tried very hard not to slip into the same cycle some of the other guys had slipped into. They all enjoyed their drinking a little too much. All but Stephen, that is, and it looked like they were going to corrupt him tonight.

I might have a little nip once in a while after a difficult customer, but I didn't put the fun in functional alcoholism like some of the other guys I worked with. And I wasn't in any mood to start.

I especially wasn’t in the mood to start at a place where they’d all be looking and wondering if I was getting lap dance because it’d be “totally hot.” There was nothing more annoying than having your sexuality and identity turned into a party favor for a bunch of horny straight boys who had the hots for the lone girl in the department.

"Listen," I started, but Stephen brought me up short.

"Please Taylor?"

He looked down at me with a pair of puppy dog eyes that were difficult to resist. I shook my head and growled.

"You guys need to get back to work," I said.

Neither made a move. Both of them still had stupid grins plastered on their faces. Stupid grins that I knew weren't going to disappear until I agreed to go out with them.

"Will you leave me alone if I say I'll think about it?" I asked.

Both of them looked at each other. Both of them looked back at me. Both of them shook their heads in unison. It would’ve been kind of creepy if I wasn't pretty sure they’d practiced that move knowing exactly how I was going to react to their invitation.

“Fine," I growled. "If it’ll get you guys off my back and if it means that much to you Stephen then I'll go for a little while. But you guys aren't going to try and get me drunk and you aren’t going to buy me a lap dance!"

"Oh no," Dan said. "Wouldn't dream of it. Would you Stephen?"

"What are you talking about?" Stephen asked, doing his best to look innocent and not doing a very good job of it. "This is my party! You're the one who’s supposed to be buying lap dances for me, remember?"

"Quite right," Dan said.

Dan gave me a thumbs up. I responded with a raised middle finger again. They’d won the battle, but I had no intention of staying out with them for too long tonight.

"You wound me," Dan said. "But I can't wait until tonight. It's going to be awesome!"

“Says you," I replied. "And I’m serious. No lap dances!"

Dan held both hands up and looked injured. As though he couldn't believe I was accusing him of anything of the sort.

"Of course not. I wouldn't dream of using your sexuality as an excuse to try and get some girl on girl action going in the strip club."

The fact that he even said it meant he’d considered it, but I decided not to dig into that particular line of reasoning. Instead I turned around and started clicking on my computer and pretending to work.

Eventually I heard them step away. And as I worked I tried to look on the bright side.

Sure I was being dragged to a strip club which wasn't my favorite place in the world, and I was going to be hanging out with the guys at work while they were drinking, which wasn't the best place to be, but it’d be fun to watch Stephen getting drunk. I'd never seen that before and it was sure to be worth the trip.

Yeah, maybe tonight wouldn't be all that bad after all. Maybe. I had a hard time convincing myself though.

“So when were you going to tell her Jason is coming along?” Stephen asked.

I popped up and looked over the edge of my cubicle. My eyes narrowed and I glared so hard at Dan that he had to know I wasn’t happy. He turned around and shrugged. Hit me with a big grin.

Damn it. Maybe tonight was going to be just as bad as I thought it’d be.

2

Jasmine

I looked all over the small desk in front of my mirror.

"Where's my goddamn glitter?" I yelled loud enough to be heard even over the radio playing in the background.

All the girls turned and looked at me. I felt bad for screaming, but I was supposed to be on stage in a few minutes and I couldn't find my glitter. There was only one reason why it would be missing.

Tara. The bitch.

"Come on," I said. "Somebody tell me what she did with it and nobody has to get hurt."

Everybody looked at me for the space of another second and then they started giggling and laughing. I'd just done a pretty spot on impression of Tara if I do say so myself. The girl could be ridiculous. As though threatening people in the changing room would actually get her what she wanted.

"Did you check on her table?" Tiffany asked.

"I guess that makes sense," I said.

I walked over and sure enough there was my glitter lotion. The nice expensive stuff that I got from the nice expensive store. Probably overkill for this place, but I like to think that I could take a little bit of professional pride in what I did.

Even if "what I did" was taking my clothes off for money.

"I'm going to kill her," I said.

Just to be sure I picked up the glitter lotion and looked at the underside. Sure enough there was my name in permanent marker. A necessity in a dressing room that was home to a raging bitch with sticky fingers.

It looked like she’d even tried to scratch my name off when she realized it was there in permanent marker.

If you didn't put your name on something back here you were as good as asking for it to be stolen. Especially with Tara.

"What the hell are you doing at my table?" A voice rang out from across the changing room.

I didn't answer her in so many words. I simply spun around to the entrance and held up my glitter lotion. In particular I held it up so the bottom was visible to everyone.

There were a few catcalls and shouts. She'd been caught fair and square, and everyone in the the room knew it. It was always fun to catch somebody stealing, but especially so when it was Tara.

She shrugged and sniffed. "I don't know how that got there."

"I'm sure it was an accident," I said, my tone flat.

I wanted it to be absolutely clear that I didn't believe for a moment that it was an accident, but I also didn't have time to start a fight.

"How is it out there?" Carrie asked.

Tara shrugged. "Not that good. There are a couple of business people from out of town, but other than that it's pretty dead."

"Great," Tiffany said with a roll of her eyes. "It's a Friday night. Aren't we supposed to be busy?"

"Give it time," I said. “It's still early. Who knows? We might get a big party or something."

"Yeah, and maybe a nice hot sugar daddy will come in tonight!" Carrie said, drumming her heels on the floor as she grinned and laughed.

I rolled my eyes. "If that's your retirement plan then you're in for a disappointment," I said.

Carrie jutted her lip out. "You don't have to be a jerk about it dashing my dreams."

I sighed but didn't respond. We'd been over this time and time again. If her dream was finding some guy to sweep her off her feet in a Pretty Woman scenario that was her business. I wasn't going to tell her that her dream was stupid.

Not again at least. Not tonight. I didn't want to waste the breath.

I went back to my mirror and started putting on my glitter lotion, and as I looked at myself in the mirror I sighed again. Only this time it didn't have anything to do with Carrie and her crazy dreams. It had everything to do with how crabby I felt tonight.

And it didn't really have anything to do with Tara trying to steal some of my good stuff. No, I was pissed off at how pissy I was acting. It wasn't fair to take out my irritation on the girls. Irritation at where I was. At what I was doing.

It's not like I minded the work. It's not like I was ashamed of my job. Not exactly. It's just back in school when you have the conversation about what you want to be when you grow up, well let's just say that being a stripper usually isn’t part of that conversation.

Of course I could tell myself I was just working to put a roof over my head while I was going through school. Yeah, that turned me into a walking cliché. Even if it was true.

"Any cute guys out there tonight?" Tiffany asked.

Tara let out a disgusted noise that was all the answer we needed, but that didn't stop her from launching into a complaint.

"Are you seriously asking if there are cute guys out there?" she asked. "At this place?"

"You never know," Tiffany said. “Hell could freeze over."

"Yeah well hell is still nice and warm and sunny tonight," Tara replied.

I kept my thoughts to myself. I wasn't going to ask the obvious question. Not with Tara in the room. My sexuality wasn't something I was ashamed of, but not feeling shame over it didn't mean Tara wouldn't try to use it as a weapon in her never ending war against me.

"Nothing out there for you either Jasmine," she said.

I squeezed my eyes shut and sighed. Of course she wouldn't be able to resist getting in a dig.

"You got a problem Tara?" I asked, a warning coming to my voice.

Not that she ever picked up on it. Or if she did pick up on it she decided it was just a sign whatever she was doing was working. God I hated her.

"Maybe I do have a problem," she said. "After all, I can't understand why they let a dyke like you in the changing room with us."

I looked her up and down. Put my hands on my hips. Cocked my head to the side and made a show of really examining her. Looking at her in the same way she probably expected everybody to look at her, because of course she was the center of attention. In her world, at least.

Well. Time to knock her down a peg. She thought the whole world revolved around her? That everyone was so in love with her? Well it was time to pop that bubble.

"I don't think you have to worry Tara," I said.

"Why's that? I see the way you…"

I held up a hand and she stopped. Everyone else leaned forward waiting to see what I’d say.

I didn't bother explaining to her that this was just a job. That being a lesbian didn't mean I walked into it changing rooms ogling everyone. That I wasn't in a perpetual state of being turned on just because I was around her.

I’d tried all of that before. Rational explanations and Tara didn't go together. So instead I'd go for a biting remark. Let her know exactly what I thought of her and her insinuation that I was a pervert twenty-four seven.

"Well let's follow your logic for a little bit Tara," I said.

"Okay…"

"I'm a lesbian working in a place where I'm surrounded by naked women all the time, right?"

Tara rolled her eyes. "Don't try to give me that bullshit that you're surrounded by it so it doesn't…"

"I'm not going to try and do anything of the sort," I said. "Yeah I'm surrounded by hot women all the time. And being surrounded by hot women means I have a lot of choices when it comes to who I’m checking out, right?”

"I suppose that makes sense," Tara said slowly. She looked around and it was obvious she could feel a trap closing in around her.

"So why the hell would you ever think I’d go for your chubby saggy ass?" I asked. "I'm not into cellulite."

There was an intake of breath followed by a new wave of giggles.

To drive my point home I walked over to Tiffany. Put my arms around her and grinned.

"Besides, if I'm going to go for anyone around here it would be the gorgeous Tiffany, right? What do you say? Are you ready for that walk on the wild side you’re always talking about? I could get you good and drunk first!”

"You know it baby!" Tiffany said.

We held each other’s eyes for a moment and I almost felt a little flutter in my stomach, then we both broke up in a fit of laughs. Tiffany and I had been friends long enough that there wasn't a chance I would ever dream of hitting on her. Seriously hitting on her, at least. Even if she was hot enough that I wouldn't mind hitting on her if she wasn't a friend. And she wasn't completely straight.

Which was a damn shame, but you learned to take those breaks when you were interested in the same sex.

"You're such a bitch," Tara said.

She flopped down at her table and started working on her makeup.

"Yeah keep slathering on that makeup," I said. "If you put enough on then that coupled with the dark lighting might be enough to make you attractive enough to get a few bucks."

Tara flipped me the bird. And it wasn't a friendly bird flipping like some of the other girls did when we were bullshitting getting ready for a set. No, Tara was good and pissed off. I'd hit her where it hurt right in her ego.

But that was the least she deserved for being such a jerk.

If she was going to try and use my sexuality against me then the gloves were off. I wasn't pulling any punches. Not that I ever had. I’d learned early on that it was easier to hit people head-on when they were being jerks about the whole lesbian thing.

I looked up at the clock hanging over the door to the changing room. I was on in a moment. And sure enough Jessica came walking in, her breasts bouncing in a somewhat distracting way but some money tucked under her arm along with her clothes which was promising.

Hey, I might be professional about not ogling my friends in a work environment, but I wasn't dead. That didn't mean I didn't notice a good thing when I saw it. Even if I did force myself to pull my eyes away so I wouldn't freak anyone out.

"You're up," Jessica said, hitting me with a smile.

Jessica looked down at Tara who was knocking things around on her table. Then to everyone else who was barely concealing their giggles. Finally she looked to me.

“What the hell happened in here?"

"Just Tara being a bitch like usual," I said. "Now if you'll excuse me I have a set to do."

I stepped out into the dark hall leading out to the stage and took a deep breath like I always did when I was getting ready to perform. It was go time. Time to show off and hopefully get a little bit of money.

3

Taylor

"The Lacey Garter? Are you serious?"

"Yeah!" Dan said, completely not picking up on the unspoken judgment in my voice. "Isn't it great?”

"It's something all right," I said.

The club was dilapidated and broken down on the outside. I could see a couple of bright neon lights that maybe worked once upon a time, but those either weren't working or the owner was trying to save a few bucks on the electric bill by not turning them on at night.

Everything else about the place was just as sad. The outside looked like it hadn’t seen a new paint job in at least a decade. Everything was faded and the paint was flaking away in spots.

In short, it didn't look like best strip joint in town. I didn't care what Dan said.

Jason popped up and grinned. “Oh man I can’t wait to get in there. It’s been a few years since I’ve been to the Garter.”

I turned and eyed him, trying my hardest to play nice. I was pretty sure the only reason he got an invite was because Stephen couldn’t very well have a party where he only invited some of the guys, but it still irritated me having him nearby.

“You talk about this like you’re some connoisseur of strip clubs or something,” I said.

“I mean I don’t want to brag, but I’ve been to just about every club in the city so I know what I’m talking about,” Jason said, puffing his chest out like that was something he should be proud of or something.

“Yeah, you might not want to brag about that,” I said.

"Come on," Stephen said, elbowing me in the side. "You said you were going to come out and have a good time, and you're not acting like you're having a very good time."

I looked at him and grinned. "I said I would come out with you guys. I never said anything about having a good time."

“Disregard the sourpuss in the back seat," Dan said. "This is the best place in town and we’re going to have an awesome time!"

I looked at the club again. It looked at some of the guys streaming in. It was a sad assortment of men with loose ties and button up shirts. The sort of guys who looked like they’d either never had a relationship, had a relationship that was on the rocks, or they were divorcees.

Okay, so I was probably being a little to judgmental tonight. It was a byproduct of the irritation I already felt at being dragged out here in the first place.

Coming here was a bad idea. They'd been looking at me expectantly whenever they talked about lap dances and I just knew that a part of the reason they wanted me along was the hope of seeing some of that girl on girl action Dan mentioned earlier at the office.

Nothing irritated me more than having my sexuality being exploited by a bunch of straight boys who wanted to get off on it.

I didn't mind the hot girl on girl action, just when it was being used to service a crowd of guys. I'd avoided situations like that pretty easily since college, and I didn't like being stuck in that situation again tonight.

“So when was this the best strip joint in town?" I asked. "Are we talking like the ‘80s? The ‘70s? It looks like they haven't slapped a new paint job since one of those decades."

"Hey now," Dan said. "Some of the best stuff was made in the ‘80s. That's when we were all born, after all!"

I sighed at the ridiculous joke, but I couldn't help but smile just a little. These guys might be irritating sometimes, but they were still my work buddies and there were still times when even Dan's lame humor could be worth a smile.

"Come on," I said, opening my car door. "Let's get in there and get this over with."

Stephen fixed me with a look that said I was ruining his fun. So I forced a smile.

"I mean let's get ready to have an awesome time!"

"That's more like it!" Stephen said, some excitement coming to his voice.

I smiled. The guy seemed like he was genuinely looking forward to this. Then again he'd never struck me as the type to go out and get too wild. This was probably the most excitement he'd had in a good long time, and I hoped that he didn't piss off his fiancée by doing this.

It wouldn't be the first time I'd heard of a marriage going south before it even started because things got a little out of hand at the bachelor party.

We stepped through the door and I prepared myself for the worst. The place didn't look all that great on the outside and I figured there wasn't a chance they were taking care of it on the inside either, but once I stepped through that door it was like I stepped through a doorway to Wonderland.

If Wonderland was a place where women walked around topless, their breasts jiggling hypnotically, and a girl danced onstage to a Motley Crue medley.

Could you get more clichéd?

Still, the point is the place wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be from looking at it on the outside. Inside it was decked with white flashing Christmas lights that added to the mood. And I had to admit the girls walking around were pretty hot.

I guess it didn't matter what a place like this looked like on the outside as long as the offerings on the inside were up to snuff, and looking at these girls they were definitely pretty good looking.

I liked to think of myself as a connoisseur of the female form. I’d been around girls my entire life and I'd had plenty of time to figure out exactly what I liked. Not too thin, not too thick, and I liked a girl who obviously took care of herself. Who was fit. And most of the girls here fit that bill.

Of course I had to wonder whether or not that was because they worked out, or because they took part in some of the illegal activities that you heard about from these places.

Not that it mattered. It's not like I was going to date any of these girls. I was just ogling them for a little while.

I figured there was no harm in enjoying the view. Especially when the view was as nice as some of the girls I saw walking around the place. They were all probably working their way through nursing school or something.

Yeah, that seemed to be the story with all the girls at places like this. Again, not that I was going to knock it. They were doing what they had to do to get by in the world. Far be it for me to get all judgmental about that. I’d never been in a situation where I thought taking my clothes off for money was actually a viable option, and I wasn't going to look down on some poor girl who did find herself in that situation.

“Hell yes this is what I’m talking about!” Jason said. “Would you look at all this tail?”

He elbowed me in the side and looked over with a grin. I regarded him with a flat stare.

“What makes you think that’s okay to say to me?” I asked.

“Yeah, sorry. Forgot who I was talking to,” he said.

He disappeared into the crowd making a grasping motion at some stripper’s ass as she walked past. I almost wanted to see him do it so I could enjoy watching the bouncers coming out and giving him hell, but he was gone before it happened.

Good riddance. I couldn’t stand the guy. No one in our department could. It was a wonder he hadn’t been fired yet the way he managed to piss everyone off daily.

"So what do you think?" Dan asked.

"I think the view is pretty nice here," I said, more because I figured that’s what he wanted to hear than anything else.

"I knew you'd agree once you got here!" he said. "You aren't going to be able to resist these ladies!”

I rolled my eyes. “I told you no lap dances and…”

I trailed off because the lights went low as the girl on stage stepped off and the announcer spoke up. He had the sort of voice you’d expect from an announcer at a strip club. Deep and sort of like a radio announcer, but not quite which is probably why he was at a strip club instead.

"Are you ready? Let's give a Lacy Garter welcome to the one, the only, Jasmine!"

I rolled my eyes. Jasmine? Whoever was about to come out on stage really couldn't think of a more original name than Jasmine? Seriously?

The lights came on and another Motley Crue song started to play. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes this time around. Mostly because I was worried that I was going to pull a muscle or something from rolling them too much.

Really? Another Motley Crue song? The one you think about every time you come to a strip club? Yeah, that's what she was marching out to.

Whoever this Jasmine girl was, she wasn't very original.

Then she stepped out onstage and all thoughts about originality fled from my brain as I got a good look at her. Damn. And when I say damn I mean damn.

She had dark hair that came down almost to her shoulders. She had makeup done up to look nice without making it look like she was in clown makeup or something. But more than that there was her body.

She hadn't started taking her clothes off yet and already I could tell she had a dangerous package under her outfit. She wasn't done up like some Middle Eastern princess which would be in keeping with her name, but even from a distance I could tell she was fucking hot and pretty.

She had the kind of body that it made you want to sit up and beg for more. She had a way of moving that body that made me want to get a private lap dance, and I didn't give a damn what I'd told the guys about the chances of hell freezing over before I got a lap dance.

I found myself moving up towards the stage. I couldn't resist. It was like her undulating body was a siren call drawing me closer and closer. I couldn't help myself. I had to be near her.

I had to be near her and I was going to be near her. I ignored the catcalls from the guys as they realized what I was doing. I didn't give a damn about them or their catcalls. All I give a damn about was getting to know this girl better.

Somewhere in the back of my mind I told myself I was being ridiculous. I didn't have any more of a chance with this beauty than any of the other guys shoveling money at her, but I couldn't help myself. I was under her spell.

Some hypocrite I was. All that talk about how I wasn't going to enjoy the strip club, how I wasn't going to entertain the idea of getting a lap dance, and the first time I see a girl who takes my breath away what am I doing?

That's right, walking right up to the stage like a moth to the flame. I was acting like an idiot, and I didn't care.

I got up to the stage and looked at all the guys surrounding me. Realized I didn't have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting this girl's attention. I hadn't even bothered to take out some small bills before we got here so I could attract the attention of the girls on stage. I didn't think I’d need to attract their attention. No chance of that now either. I saw the ATMs helpfully positioned at the entrance. A five dollar fee to withdraw money from my bank account.

No thanks.

"You need some money?"

I turned to see Dan grinning at me. Like he knew exactly what I was thinking, and damn it I was going to take him up on his offer.

"You've been looking forward to this all night haven't you?" I said, trying my best to sound irritated but not doing a very good job of it.

Dan smiled and held his hands up in what I was probably supposed to take as an innocent gesture.

"What can I say? I figured if we got you out here…"

"So do you have any singles or not?" I asked.

"Here you go," Dan said, handing over a neatly stacked wad of cash. The boy came prepared tonight. It looked like there was at least $50 worth of Georges here. My eyes went wide.

"Damn. You really prepared!"

"I'm not going to plan a bachelor party and do it the wrong way," he said.

He sounded almost hurt at the implication that he would ever do a bachelor party "the wrong way." I smiled and shook my head. I might've been irritated at being dragged along, but now that I’d had a good look at the beauty up on stage I was more than happy they'd dragged me along.

Even if I was a pretty much proving them right by getting hot and heavy over this girl. Oh well. I wasn't too proud to admit when I was wrong.

"I'll pay you back on Monday," I said.

"Consider it a gift," he said. “Being proved right is all the payback I need."

I stuck my tongue out but left it at that. There were a few other rude gestures I could have made, but I was far more interested in looking at this girl onstage. This Jasmine who was so alluring. So enticing.

I don't know what it was about her exactly, but there was something that got me going. That made me want to know her better.

And so I risked looking like all the other guys out here to get a stripper's attention. Although I was at least unique being the only woman around the stage.

Not that I figured a stripper would actually be interested in a client, but this might be fun for a short little while.

So I held my dollars up right along with everyone else trying to get her attention and thinking what an idiot I was being the entire time.

4

Jasmine

The girl was the first thing I noticed as I stepped out on stage and put my hand on the pole. It was a move I'd done hundreds of times before, only this time seeing her standing there talking to a friend then waving money at me nearly caused me to lose my balance. It was only my grip on the pole that kept me from falling on my ass.

Fuck! I needed to be more careful. I couldn't afford to fall and sprain something or, even worse, break something.

I might be an exotic dancer, heavy emphasis on the "exotic" part, but I was still a dancer. I still had to worry about keeping myself in shape to do the job.

I used my grip on the pole to provide some balance. Just enough to keep me from falling on my ass in my stripper heels. No, that wouldn’t be sexy for the customers.

I did a circle around the pole and dipped down, shook my ass and got some applause, but not much. Tara was right. The place really was relatively empty. Nothing interesting or promising out here at all.

I looked at the girl again. Revised that thought. There was nothing interesting from a financial point of view, but there was definitely someone interesting sitting out there with dollar bills waving in the breeze smiling and laughing.

I told myself I was dreaming. That the girl had to be straight. There was obviously a group of guys hanging around behind her, and there was that guy who'd handed her the money and slapped her on the back. He had to be the boyfriend.

I'd seen it plenty of times before working this job. A guy who was out with his girlfriend and wanted her to take a walk on the wild side. A little good old-fashioned red-blooded American girl on girl action where I was expected to play the part of the second.

Not that I minded. That had resulted in some good times. I'd even got a couple of phone numbers when I was done dancing, though I'd only taken them up on that offer one time when it was clear the girl was bi and was interested in having a little bit of fun independent of her boyfriend.

Not that a couple of couples hadn’t tried to get more than the lap dance. Assholes.

I might be willing to do a little dance and get up close and personal with a girl in a professional capacity, but I drew the line at being a private performer in a girl on girl session.

I wasn't a fan of someone using my sexuality as a way for guys to get off. No thank you. I even shied away from doing the more suggestive dances with some of the other girls at the club in public, though that was more because most of them seemed a little uncomfortable with it than because I was uncomfortable with it.

And I was out here thinking when I should be dancing. I’d been spinning around the pole and I hadn't even bothered to go and do a round. I needed to get out there and make some money. The pickings were slim tonight, and I needed to take what I could get.

I started on the far end from the girl. I wasn't ready to face her just yet. She was so beautiful, and I didn't want to be disappointed when it turned out she'd been dragged here as a joke for a bachelor party or she was here with her boyfriend.

No, the more time I spent around the edges of the stage not talking to her the more I could entertain the fantasy that she was into girls. That she was into me and that's why she was holding out those dollar bills with that eager look.

It was a silly fantasy, a crazy fantasy that was never going to come true in a place like this, but I did what I had to do to maintain my sanity and make it through the nights at this place.

I moved around the edge of the dance floor and then I was face-to-face with her. Up close she was just as beautiful as she'd been from far away.

There could be a striking difference between how someone looked up close and far away in the dim lighting in the club. It was the sort of lighting that helped out the girls who maybe weren’t at a hundred percent under bright florescent lighting, but that same lighting could also make it difficult to get a good look at patrons if you weren’t right next to them.

I leaned down and she was almost hesitant as she reached out with a fistful of dollars. My eyes went wide at that. That was the sort of thing you got when someone was really interested.

Again I tried not to let myself get too excited. I tried not to freak out or read too deeply into the amount of money she was throwing at me. After all, there was still a good chance she was here with a boyfriend.

Still, it was nice to entertain the fantasy that she was interested in me even if I knew it had no bearing on reality.

“Come here often?" I asked, using my best seductive voice.

Why was I using my seductive voice? I shouldn’t be using my seductive voice. This girl wasn't interested in me and I wasn't interested in her, and I always prided myself on being able to do this job without making the clients feel like they had a chance.

Only she looked up at me and my breath caught.

That was one hell of an intense look. That was a look that promised everything I'd been fantasizing about and then some. I found myself wondering what our kids would look like, though of course that was a ridiculous notion since we’d have to adopt or have a donor or something.

And that was an even more ridiculous thought.

I was getting distracted. I needed to get this under control. Only the way she held my gaze was enough to drive me wild.

"I've actually never been here before," she said. "I'm here for a bachelor party."

Hope rose. If she was here for a bachelor party then there was a chance that guy wasn't her boyfriend. There was a chance she might be interested in yours truly. I still didn't allow myself to think there was much of a chance, but I felt like my fantasy was creeping closer and closer to reality.

"Having fun so far?" I asked.

"I just got here," she said. "But I'm having a hell of a lot more fun since you showed up."

And she hit me with another one of those looks that threatened to knock me on my ass. She was doing with one look at what stumbling over the pole hadn’t.

I licked my lips. I should proceed with caution. I should get away from this girl now. Before I did something stupid that would prove Tara right. But I couldn't pull myself away. I didn't know what to do.

For the first time in my not so illustrious career taking my clothes off for men I found myself at a loss for words. I didn't know what to say next. Usually the game was to string them along without promising anything, but that felt wrong with this girl.

I wanted to string her along and then reel her in and keep her all to myself.

"I'm sorry," the girl said. "Do you need more cash if you're going to stay here and talk with me?"

"Do you want to stay and talk with me?" I asked.

She held my gaze and I shivered. She licked her lips and I felt a definite moment between us. The space between us was crackled with electric potential.

"I think I’d like to talk to you some more Jasmine. If that's okay with you," She said.

"That’s great, but I have to finish this dance,” I said. I winked at her. "Enjoy it."

"But how…”

I pulled away and I had trouble catching my breath. I felt like I'd been out on the stage for a full set rather than one song. When I pulled back to reality I saw customers looking up at me with irritated glances.

Oh yeah. They weren't happy that I was ignoring them. I could even see a couple of regulars who were going to give me trouble later.

I never stopped to talk with any of them for too long, even if they threw money at me, and I’d just stopped and talked to that girl for a good long while. At least it was long as far as conversations are reckoned when you're up on stage.

Not that I owed any of them anything anyways. This was strictly a patron and client relationship, and if they couldn't get that through their heads that was their problem, not mine.

I turned back to look at the girl again. I hadn't even gotten her name, and yet she filled my thoughts. There was something about her that sent a thrill running through me. That made me want to hop off the stage now and offer her a private dance. I wouldn't even charge.

But I resisted the urge. I was here to make money, after all, and even if I didn't prefer the company of gentlemen they were the ones who paid the bills so I'd shake it for them.

Yet through the whole routine my eyes kept returning to that girl. Returning to her pretty face. To that electric gaze that held my attention. I watched her for any reaction to my dance. Any reaction that might reveal that she was into girls just as much as I was.

I felt like even though I was up on stage in front of an entire club I was only dancing for her. It was just at the two of us. Just the two of us and it was so hot.

I found myself actually getting turned on doing my rounds. I twirled around the pole and imagined it was that girl between my legs rather than a cold unfeeling pole. I put a little more effort into looking good, and I kept my attention on her as I ripped my final bit of clothing off so I was standing on stage in just a thong.

I would've gone over to give her an up close special, but the music ended and I heard the announcer calling out the next dancer.

I’d spent so much time chatting her up that I'd used up a good minute of my dance time. Which meant I had no more time to go over and do the whole seduction from the dance floor routine that I'd seen so many other girls pull with guys who were big spenders.

Only that girl hadn't even been a big spender. Far from it. I maybe got ten bucks from her, and that was nothing compared to what I got from some regulars.

No, I was drawn to her because she was hot. I was drawn to her because I was attracted to her, and that was a weird feeling in this business.

I pushed those thoughts away as I stepped backstage. Tiffany stood there tapping her foot with her arms crossed.

"What took you so long?" she asked.

"Sorry about that," I said. "I got a little distracted…"

I knew it was a mistake to say anything about getting distracted the moment I said it. Tiffany's face lit up in a broad smile.

"So you saw a girl out there? That's what this is about?"

"Maybe you should keep that on the down low,” I said. "I don't want to some people to know about that."

Tiffany made a motion as though she was zipping her lips. Then she smiled and giggled and gave me a hug. A hug that was made just a little awkward because she was wearing practically nothing, she was a sexy woman, and I was wearing absolutely nothing.

Plus I was already worked up because of everything with that strange nameless girl out there. My body was on fire. Having a pretty girl pressing her body against mine didn't help. No, that didn't help at all.

Thankfully she pulled away pretty quickly and the torture was short-lived. She smiled again as the announcer called her out on stage under her stage name. Sapphire.

I'd made the mistake of thinking that my name already sounded strippery enough and so I went out there under my real name. I learned what a mistake that was later, but it was too late now. All the regulars knew who I was and so I figured what the hell.

Tiffany went out on stage to wow the world as Sapphire, and I moved backstage. I needed to get into an outfit that was suitably slutty for going out on the floor. It was time to meet up with that girl.

I took a deep breath. I couldn't believe I was doing this, but at at the same time I felt giddy and excited in a way I never had before. At least not at work.

For the first time since I started at this place I was looking forward to working the floor rather than dreading it.

5

Taylor

"Admit it," Dan said.

"Admit what?" I asked, trying my best to look sweet and innocent. From the way he grinned it was pretty clear he wasn't buying the sweet and innocent routine. Not at all.

"I want you to admit that you had fun," he said. "That's all. Admit you had fun and I'll leave you alone.”

"Yeah you wish," I said.

"Well if you didn't have fun with that girl then you won't mind if I take my singles back," he said, reaching out for the pile of money still clutched in my hand.

I pulled back as though his hand was a snake reaching out to bite me or something. I knew that was the wrong thing to , but I didn't want him to take away that money. It was the only money I had unless I was willing to go over and pay the ridiculous ATM fee to get some money of my own.

Dan shook his head and laughed. "I knew it!”

"Okay so I had a little fun with that stripper," I said. “Are you happy? Is that what you wanted to hear?"

He shrugged. "Is it really so bad if that is what I wanted to hear? It's not like it's such a bad thing for you to have fun. It's not like it's such a bad thing for you to get out and live a little."

I opened my mouth to tell him I was perfectly capable of living a little, thank you very much, but then it occurred to me that wasn’t strictly true.

After all, my idea of a fun night was going home and microwaving a meal then sitting down to maybe play a video game or watch some TV. Maybe both at the same time.

I had to admit that next to that the idea of going out to a strip club and developing a girl crush on a stripper was out of the ordinary. It was also a lot more exciting than what I usually got up to on a Friday night.

"I guess it's not such a bad thing to have a good time," I said.

Dan reached out and slapped me on the back. As though I was one of the guys. I winced at the smack, but didn't complain.

"See! That's the spirit. There’s nothing wrong with having a good time!

I kept my mouth shut. I obviously didn't know what I wanted and Dan obviously had a pretty good idea of what I did want. After all, he'd known I needed to come out here even if I wasn't willing to admit it to myself.

Maybe it would be a good idea for me to start listening to him a little more. Maybe I should give him some credit.

Dan looked over my shoulder and I didn't think it was possible his grin could get any wider, but somehow, miraculously, it did. I felt a chill run down my spine at his smile. It was the sort of shit eating grin he only got when he knew something was up.

“What is it?" I asked.

He didn't respond in so many words. He merely nodded behind me. My pulse picked up. My heart was racing. He could only be smiling like that and pointing behind me for one thing.

I still thought I was being silly for getting a crush on a stripper of all things, I didn't think that was the kind of girl I was until I came to this club and found out maybe that was exactly the kind of girl I was, but I couldn't deny how I felt. I couldn't deny the way my body reacted to thinking about meeting up with her again.

I couldn't shake the feeling that she was into girls. That she might be interested in doing a little more than dancing for me. And yet at the same time I knew I was being ridiculous. This was a job where they got paid based on how well they interacted with people. For all I knew this girl was just very good at acting like she was interested in other women because she learned lesbians paid well or something.

Not that I saw any other lesbians in the place. Hanging out at a strip club had never struck me as a big LGBT sort of thing. Unless you're talking about a club for guys, of course.

But what did I know? I’d never been to a place like this so I couldn’t say for sure one way or another.

I felt a fluttering in my stomach as somebody tapped on my shoulder. I knew I was going to turn around and she would be right there. The only question was would she be there because she was actually interested in me? Was there something to this crush I was developing? Or would she be there because she thought she could get a quick buck out of me?

There was no way to find out unless I turned around and talked to her. Besides, maybe Dan was right. Maybe I did needed to live a little. Maybe I did need to go against my natural inclination to stay in for the night. Maybe it was time I put myself out in the world.

And if that meant putting myself out in the world by talking to a pretty stripper? Well I figured there was nothing wrong with that. It was just one night after all. It's not like I was locking this down forever or something.

A relationship with a stripper? The thought seemed ridiculous. Even if there was a part of me that tingled at the idea.

Butterflies rose in my stomach as I turned around to meet her. I blinked when I got a good look at her outfit.

I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised. After all, I was in a strip club. What did I expect a stripper to wear at the strip club? A cardigan that covered everything?

No, she was in a bikini top that was more mesh lingerie than actual bikini material leaving nothing to the imagination. Not that I was in a mood to have much left to the imagination. Down below she was in a skirt, but it went from reasonable to scandalous by virtue of being made out of a translucent material that gave me a good view of her G-string below.

"Fancy meeting you here," she said.

"Hi yourself," I said.

I immediately felt like an idiot for saying it. "Hi yourself?" Was that really my opening line? I was such a doofus sometimes.

"So I was wondering if maybe you'd be interested in a dance?"

I blinked. She was already going from introducing herself to asking for a private dance? I was intrigued by the idea. My whole body started to shake and I had to work at keeping it under control. Moisture gathered between my legs and I was a goner if I went into a private room with this girl. I’d be acting like one of the idiots around the stage throwing money at girls in no time.

Even though I'd already acted like one of the idiots on stage throwing money at one of the girls on stage. Guess it was too late to put that cat back in the bag.

I licked my lips and looked down at the pile of money still clutched in my hands. I looked up at her. There couldn’t possibly be enough in there to pay for a private dance.

"I might have to go to the ATM," I said it.

I had no idea how much a dance would even cost. Well this was going to get awkward, but it couldn’t get any more awkward than staring at her in that getup, right?

“What's the going rate for a lap dance anyway?"

She looked almost insulted, but she quickly schooled her face to a smile. I felt like an idiot for even asking about the price, but it was kind of an unfair situation.

After all, I had no idea if she was offering one for free or if she was expecting me to pay, and if she did expect me to pay, something I’d happily do, then I needed to know how much of a dent it was going to put in my bank account.

"Let's start at the beginning," she said. "You already know my name. Jasmine.”

“Oh,” I said. "I guess I assumed that was your…"

"My working name?" she asked with the barest hint of a smile. Maybe she got that a lot when she told people her real name.

I was glad she was the one who phrased it like that. I'd been about to call it her stripper name, and it had only occurred to me at the last moment that it might not be a good idea to cavalierly toss around terms like "stripper name" when I was talking to a girl in the profession.

She held out a hand and I took it. She shook it once, and I felt electric sparks dancing through my body that were completely overblown for what amounted to a glorified handshake.

But what a handshake. That electricity moved out of my arm and through my body right down between my legs where things were starting to get really steamy. I squeezed my legs together and quickly pulled them apart.

The last thing I wanted was to go over the edge out here in the crowd in front of all my friends. Best to avoid any extra stimulation.

“I’m Taylor," I said.

Jasmine smiled. "Nice to meet you Taylor," she said. "So how about that dance? It's on at the house."

She looked me up and down in a way that left absolutely no doubt in my mind that she was very interested. That wasn't the kind of look you got from someone who was playing along because of professional interest.

At least I told myself that wasn't the kind of look I’d get from somebody who was only playing along because of professional interest.

Maybe that was a bit of wishful thinking on my part, but then again maybe not.

"All right!" A voice said from behind.

A hand landed on my shoulder. I turned to see Dan sitting on a stool with a huge grin on his face. "Now this is what I'm talking about!"

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Well you're going to get a private dance," he said. "That's totally hot! Should we go over to a corner or something?"

I turned back to Jasmine and the expression on her face had done a complete one eighty. She'd gone from looking interested it to looking very annoyed. Though that annoyance couldn't begin to approach how annoyed I was. Of course Dan would stick his nose in where it wasn't wanted at the worst possible moment.

The idiot.

I knew the only reason he wanted to get me out here was so he could see some girl on girl action. I’d known it and for a moment I let myself think he was being nice and now here he was acting like a complete idiot and maybe ruining my chances with Jasmine.

I wanted to scream. I probably could’ve screamed and no one would hear me over the music.

"Is this guy your boyfriend or something?" Jasmine asked.

There was something about the tone of her voice that told me she wasn't at all happy at the idea of Dan being my boyfriend. The thought made me throw up a little in my mouth.

Dan was nice enough most of the time, even if he could have his bro moments, but dating him? Ugh.

I wondered how many guys came in with their girls hoping to see them getting a lap dance. I got annoyed when the guys at work talked about my love life as though it was only there to titillate, and I could only imagine how it felt to be in a profession where you were constantly confronted with people who came in to see that titillation live and in person.

Yeah, that had to be pretty irritating. And it explained her tone of voice.

"No," I said. "He's not my boyfriend. He's a coworker with boundary issues."

The expression on Jasmine's face changed again. She went from a frown to a smile again.

“Oh,” she said. “In that case we’re still on for the free dance."

"Really? What would've happened if he was my boyfriend?" I asked.

"He would've been the one paying for the dance," she said as she reached out to take my hand and pulled me towards the back of the club. Back to an entrance I'd seen people going in and out of ever since I arrived, but I'd never expected that I would be the one going in.

More fluttering threatened to overwhelm my stomach and my senses as we approached that door. I couldn't believe I was about to do this. I was about to get a private dance from a stripper. No, not just a stripper. From a beautiful girl.

This was wild. This was crazy. This was unlike anything I would've done if I hadn't been dragged out here by Dan, but at the same time I couldn't deny that it was kind of hot. And I couldn't wait to see what happened back there.

She turned to smile at me and I melted. This was going to be interesting. Very fucking interesting.

6

Jasmine

My stomach twisted in knots as I pulled Taylor towards the back room hall. I couldn't believe I was doing this. I hardly ever went out on the floor and I almost never brought someone to the back rooms unless it was one of those rare couples looking for a walk on the wild side.

A couple of girls out on the floor looking for guys for their own private dances turned to stare at me long and hard. I had no doubt Tara was going to find out about this, and I also had no doubt she was going to try and find a way to use this against me.

Not that I cared in the moment. No, all I really cared about was that this girl, Taylor, was with me.

I turned and looked at her. And I couldn't help but smile. Up close she was every bit as beautiful as she was from a distance when I was up on stage. I was so nervous. It was a strange mix of emotions, but I couldn't deny how nice it felt.

"Is this your first time at a club like this?" I asked.

Taylor paused for a moment and nodded. She smiled sheepishly. "Yeah. The guys dragged me out here for a bachelor party. I never thought I'd end up doing something like this.”

"I'll try my best to make your first time memorable," I said.

The noise from the music cut off as we moved into the back hall. I always liked coming back here at where the music wasn't constantly assaulting my ears. I was certain this job was giving me hearing damage, but it's not like there was much I could do about it. Not if I wanted to stay employed.

At least there was a smoking ban in place so I didn’t have to worry about secondhand smoking a few packs a night.

I pulled Taylor into a quiet room. Bright pink curtains trimmed in white lace hung all around the edge, but it was a good thing it was so dark in here. The white wasn’t all that white after years of hanging there without a cleaning.

I motioned for her to sit down on a bench that ran around the edge of the small room. I turned around and glanced at my music choices. That was one of the few modern touches in this place. A tablet set into the wall that let me put on anything from a wide selection.

"Do you have a favorite song?” I asked.

I felt like she was on the verge of telling me what her favorite was, but something stopped her. She seemed strangely hesitant.

Not that I could blame her. If this really was her first time visiting a strip club then it wasn't at all odd that she’d feel a little out of place. So I pulled up my favorite rockets on, something that had a beat to it but was also nice and slow, and it turned around into a smile as my hips started to sway.

I licked my lips as I moved across the room towards her. She stared up at me, her eyes widened, and I also noticed the way they ran up and down my body.

There was something about her frank assessment of me that turned me on in a way I'd never been turned on before. If she could do that simply by checking me out then I couldn’t wait to see what else she could do!

Sure there were times when I'd had girls checking me out, but they were usually with their boyfriends who were paying for the lap dance and that always took something away from the experience for me.

This was different though. This was hot. This wasn’t just for me and Taylor. It was the two of us coming together in a private dance room, and I loved it.

I moved a hand up. Brushed a strand of hair out of her face. Her eyes closed and she took in a deep breath and then let it out in a long shuddering sigh.

"I thought you weren't supposed to touch?" she asked.

"What can I say? It's not like they have cameras in here, and rules were made to be broken. For the right person, of course," I said.

Her eyes flew open. She looked up at me and her mouth hung open. I thought her breathing was picking up too.

"So what do you say Taylor?" I asked, still swaying my hips in front of her.

I moved to the dance. It felt so good dancing for her, putting on a show for her, knowing it was just the two of us. I couldn't help but be a little turned on. I felt wetness between my legs and that surprised me.

I did never been that turned on at work, but now that I was experiencing it I liked it.

"I think touching sounds nice," she said.

Lightheadedness hit me along with her words. After all, this was crossing a hell of a line for me. I was usually so much better about this. I always prided myself on not getting too involved with clients. At least not at work.

Even the girls I'd gotten with who were part of couples taking their walk on the wild side hadn’t gotten the privilege of touching me while I was on the job.

I always kept things strictly professional.

Well, at least I kept them as strictly professional as they could be if you're talking about a job where I take my clothes off. The point is I was a huge supporter of the "no touching" rule, and violating it was a big deal for me.

And so I shivered as I moved closer. As she moved her legs together and I straddled her. I shivered as I felt her body pressing against me. As I felt the heat of her desire radiating up towards my own body.

I felt as good as the one time I smoked a little pot. Only the high I felt during that one brief experiment wasn't close to the high I felt as I pressed against her.

She was in a button up shirt and some slacks that looked like they wouldn't be out of place in any business casual sort of place, but there was something naughty about the juxtaposition of our situation and her business casual wear.

"Is this the kind of touching you were thinking about?" I asked.

I leaned down close to her. Close enough that our lips almost brushed together. And I never let up with the grinding.

She looked up at me. Licked her lips. Nodded and locked eyes with me. That was so hot. It was a look that went to the core of my being.

"Well it's not enough for me," I whispered.

I reached down and took her hand. Again it was a dizzying sensation as I did so. This went against every instinct I had, and yet going against every instinct that I had was precisely what made it so fun.

I moved her hands until they pressed against my stomach. I threw my head back and sighed. I was surprised at how good that felt. I knew I was losing control, but I was losing control so I didn't care.

"God that feels good," I hissed.

I was in such a lust induced haze that I didn’t care that I was losing it. I pressed against her harder. Harder. Something was building inside me. Something big.

I looked down at her and bit my lip.

"I want to kiss you," I said.

I wanted to take the words back as soon as they left my mouth, but it was too late. She blinked a couple of times in surprise, and then she took control. Up until that moment I'd been the one calling the shots. I'd been the one taking the lead.

After all, I was the one on home turf.

That was no longer the case after my little slip up though. She reached her hand around my neck and pulled me down towards her. My body shuddered. I knew what was coming as her face dominated my vision.

Her lips were soft. I know it’s cliché to say a girl’s lips are soft, but that's what they were. Only she was also just as forceful as any guy I’d been with back before I realized I was mostly into the fairer sex.

She was insistent. She was hungry. It was obvious she was enjoying this lust-fueled moment just as much as I was. That she was letting go.

And so I let myself let go. That kiss was all it took. Her mouth opened and her tongue darted out. I was hesitant at first, but then when I allowed my own tongue to flicker out that was enough to encourage her and before I knew it we were sucking face like our lives depended on it.

Her hands roamed up and down my body leaving a trail of heat. My hands worked the buttons on her blouse. I needed to touch her. Needed to feel her. Needed to know how her delicious skin felt.

Goosebumps. She was covered in goosebumps. They provided texture as my hands roamed over her body. As we continued making out. As I continued grinding against her. As I gasped into her mouth.

As the explosion hit me. As I went over the edge. As I felt something that went so far beyond anything I’d felt before.

I wrapped my arms around her and held our bodies together. Her hands were trapped between our breasts and I didn't leave her any room to escape. Over and over I continued my frantic grinding against her. I needed more and more of it. I needed more and more of her.

Fuck. I'd rarely felt like this even when I was full on getting it on, and now here I was just grinding against her in a back room at work and it was enough to hit me with an explosion that was reaching atomic levels of intensity.

Tears came to my eyes. That's how intense it was. That's how much I needed this. How much I wanted this. I felt as though I needed to hold on for dear life. It was as though the pleasure was a lifeline to reality and I could only keep hold of that lifeline by pressing against her body with everything I had.

When I came down tears trickled down my cheeks, but this time they were tears of frustration knowing that moment was over. It was one of the most intense moments I’d shared with a girl my entire life.

I pulled away from her and looked down. Suddenly uncertain. Suddenly unsure of myself.

After all, that had been one hell of a breach of professional etiquette. If you could say there was anything in the way of professional etiquette on this sort of job.

I searched her eyes. Searched her face. I looked for any sign she was upset about what just happened, but instead she smiled. She leaned up and pecked her lips against mine.

That simple peck was enough to send another shiver running through me. I looked down at her blouse. Realized I’d pulled a couple of buttons off entirely in my hurry to get it open. I blushed and looked away as she looked down and realized what had happened, and then she giggled nervously.

"So that was… Interesting," she said.

I bit my lip. "Interesting good or interesting bad?”

She blushed. I realized she still had her hands on my breasts. Somewhere in that intense moment when I'd lost track of everything she’d moved her hands under my top. I thought I'd felt something, but it had been two points of pleasure in an overwhelming tidal wave of feeling.

She pulled her hands away and I felt the loss. I wouldn't have minded her keeping her hands right there, thank you very much, but I also didn't want to ruin the moment by being too pushy.

"Definitely interesting in a good way," she said. She bit her lip. "Would it make things weird if I asked for your number?"

I felt a new shiver running through me, though this time it had nothing to do with the pleasure I’d enjoyed with her. Or maybe it was tangentially related to that pleasure because it looked like this might only be round one if she was asking for my number.

"I don't normally give my number to customers…" I said.

The look of disappointment on her face was immediate and it was heartbreaking.

"Oh," she said. "I guess I understand…"

She looked away, and I reached down and pulled her back towards me. Locked eyes with her again. Held that intense gaze that had helped push me over the edge just a few moments ago.

"I think I can make an exception in this case though," I said.

Taylor's face broke into a huge grin and she pulled her phone out. Handed it over to me and I tapped my number into her contacts. I sent myself a text message so I’d have her number too.

Damn. I'd never expected something like this to happen at work, but now that it had happened I was over the moon. I was giddy.

So many things hadn't been going well in my life lately that I found myself hoping that maybe this one shining point could be the something good I so desperately needed.

7

Taylor

I was in a daze as I made my way out of the private area. Jasmine held my hand and I gripped hers like it was a lifeline.

And in a way it was. Her hand was something solid. Something real. It was something that reminded me that everything we’d just done in that back room was real. It had happened.

It was completely out of character for me, I still had a hard time believing I'd done it, but damn it it had happened.

We reached the end of the hall and I could see lights flashing and feel music thumping as we stood on the edge. Jasmine stopped and turned to smile at me. Shadows danced across her beautiful face as light moved in and out from the big room.

"This was a lot of fun," she said.

Her eyes darted back and forth as she searched my own, and I imagined I must've looked much the same as she did in those shadows. There was something in her eyes that was odd. An uncertainty. As though she suddenly wasn't sure if I'd had as good a time as she did.

Though after everything we’d just done I had a hard time seeing how she could think I hadn't enjoyed myself every bit as much as she had.

I reached out and touched her cheek. She smiled and leaned into my touch. I pulled her in for a kiss. She kissed me, but it was quick. None of the long lingering kissing we'd enjoyed back in the private room.

I guess I could understand that. We were about to go back out to where she worked. To where she might get in trouble for getting it on with one of her clients. I could understand it, but feeling her pulling away from me broke my heart.

"I had a good time tonight too," I said. "And I'll talk to you again soon. I promise."

She glanced down the hall and then out into the main room as though she was checking to make sure the coast was clear, then wrapped me in a huge hug. She also pressed her lips against mine and this time it was one of those lingering kisses. One of those kisses I'd enjoyed so much back in that private room.

Long, steamy, lingering, and oh so deliciously hot.

Unfortunately that kiss had to come to an end all too soon. She unwrapped her arms from around me, and just in time as a girl appeared at the entrance with a gentleman in tow. The girl stopped and looked between the two of us, her eyes narrowing. It made me wonder what the hell her problem was.

“Tara,” Jasmine said, a note of unhappiness coming to her voice.

“Jasmine,” the girl said, her voice sounding equally unhappy. "It looks like you have a client to take care of.”

"Yes I do,” Jasmine said, her voice dripping with ice. "And believe me it's none of your damn business."

And with that final obvious “fuck you" to the girl Jasmine took my hand and pulled me out. I turned around to look at Tara who stared daggers at us. There was obviously something going on there, and it was equally obvious I wasn't going to find out what the hell was going on between those two.

We got out into the main room and my ears and body were assaulted by the music. There was a relentless bass thump, probably because they had to play something with a beat for the girls up on stage.

The girl onstage right now was pretty good looking, but she didn't hold a candle to Jasmine. Heck, there was a part of me that felt a little guilty about looking at another girl even though it's not like we'd locked down anything.

No, I'd just had a really ill advised necking session with a stripper in a private room. I'd become a walking example of what you shouldn't do when visiting a strip club, and I was surprised at how much I didn't give a shit.

"I really need to get back to work," Jasmine said. "But I hope we can do this again."

I could see the blush come to her face even in the low light. She giggled nervously and shook her head.

"I mean we don't have to do exactly what we did in there, but…"

I gave her hand a squeeze. "It's okay. I know exactly what you mean."

She looked around again, and apparently she decided it would be best not to give me a kiss out here. Not where there were other people watching.

Maybe there was some rule against it or something. Whatever it was, she gave my hand a squeeze and then she disappeared, melting into the crowd.

Some of the men in that crowd gave her the eye, and I felt a surprising flareup of jealousy at the thought of other people looking at her.

Then I chided myself for being ridiculous. After all, considering what her job was anything that happened between us wasn't likely to last all that long if I got jealous over other people looking at her. Especially men who she presumably wasn't interested in considering everything that happened back in the private room.

No, it was time to get the fuck over myself. Besides, I might have gotten her number but I wasn't even sure if I was going to call her.

After all, everything I’d done here tonight was so crazy. It was so out of character. I couldn't shake the feeling that the next morning I was going to be the same old boring me I'd always been. That there was something about this night, something about going out with the guys for a bachelor party, that had changed me for a one-night only engagement.

Tonight I was wild. Tonight I was going a little crazy. Tonight I was doing crazy things like going into a back room with a stripper for a free private dance.

Who's to say what I’d be tomorrow though? I might be the same old boring slightly geeky person I always was.

I was still in a daze as I made my way around the stage to where the guys from work were gathered waving dollar bills at the girl on stage trying to get her attention.

"Well hello there," Dan said. "Did you have a good time back there?"

I could see the smarmy satisfaction on his face. Yeah, I'd proven him absolutely right. Once I got out here I'd gone a little wild, though at least he hadn't gotten to enjoy the show like he was so obviously planning on doing when he invited me out here.

“I don’t want to hear it Dan,” I said.

His eyes went wide and he put a hand to his chest. "You wound me Taylor."

"Yeah well I'm going to actually wound you if you keep up with this. What I did back there tonight is my own damn business and none of yours," I said.

"What's going on here?" Stephen asked as he pushed through the press of our friends. He saw me and his face broke into a stupid grin.

"Taylor! Back from your lap dance already?"

All the other guys turned and stared, and all of them had stupid half drunk grins plastered on their faces. I rolled my eyes. So much for hoping the whole office wouldn’t find out about what I'd been doing.

Oops.

I looked at each of the guys in turn. Tried to use my eyes to bore into their heads. To make it absolutely clear exactly how serious I felt about what I was about to say.

"Nobody breathes a word of any of this to anyone at work. Got it?"

Each of them suddenly looked innocent. Each of them suddenly looked as though they didn't want to meet my gaze. Finally Stephen spoke up.

"Do you really think we're going to tell other people at work about everything we did at a strip club?"

I smiled. Leave it to Stephen to make me feel better. And the man did have a point. It's not like they were going to talk about their good time at a strip club. At least not without incriminating themselves. Sure I maybe went a little crazier than they did, but we were all guilty by association.

Not that I thought there was anything wrong with going to a strip club, necessarily. But what I thought and what the tight asses in human resources thought could be two very different things and that was a can of worms I was happy not opening, thank you very much.

"So we’re all in agreement then? Nobody breathes a word about what happened tonight?"

"Nobody was ever going to breathe a word at work about what happened tonight," Dan said.

"Good," I said.

I took a seat at a table they'd commandeered. The place seemed like it was starting to fill in. Maybe getting there right after work meant we’d arrived before the evening rush.

The place was packed now though. Packed full of mostly men. There was the occasional couple there, obvious enough because the girls inevitably looked uncomfortable about being in a strip club, but for the most part it was wall-to-wall men.

And I had to admit the rest of the evening turned out to be a pretty good time. Jason had disappeared and didn’t come around to bother us. Which was fine with me. If I didn’t want him to be part of the party I was more than happy when he removed himself from the party.

I got to watch Stephen get a lot drunker than I'd ever seen him at any of the office holiday functions. I got to see him get up on stage and get a lap dance. Incidentally the lap dance was from the girl Jasmine seemed so annoyed with when we were making our way out of the private rooms.

It was a little awkward during that dance. Everybody who was there for the bachelor party stood front and center by the stage as he got his dance, and while the girl was doing a good enough job of paying attention to him, the way she kept glancing over to me made it clear she was curious about me.

Though the anger bubbling behind some of those glances made me think it was a little more than curiosity.

Not that any of that mattered. I was going to be out of here after tonight and I probably wouldn't give a second thought to this place or that girl after that.

Even if I did see Jasmine outside of this place.

I saw Jasmine a couple more times that night, but she was always up on stage dancing. I realized if we hadn't gotten there as early as we did I might not have had a chance to get that one on one time with her at all. She seemed reluctant to come out into the crowd if she didn't have to.

But she’d come out for me. Could it be that she was interested? Really interested?

Well I had her number, so I suppose there was only one way to find out for sure. I sighed. I never thought going to a strip club would make things so complicated, but here we were.

Only it was the best sort of complicated.

Eventually the night came to its inevitable close. Everybody was stumbling around and I realized with a start that I was the only semi sober person in the whole group.

“You guys have to get a cab," I said.

Dan swayed back and forth and fixed me with a goofy smile. "You really like that girl didn't you?"

I blinked. I was expecting him to tell me he’d be perfectly fine to drive, which it was obvious he wasn't. That he went straight to talk of Jasmine had me more than a little surprised.

"Excuse me?"

He leaned in closer and I could smell the booze on his breath. "There's nothing wrong with that," Dan said. "If you like her then go for it!"

I wondered if there was something profound in his drunken talk, but before I could ask him anything more he'd wheeled around and was whipping out his phone to call a cab, or maybe he was using one of those ride calling apps that seemed to be springing up like weeds in manure.

Whatever it was, I was glad to see that none of the guys planned on driving home in their current state.

That was good. The last thing I wanted was for the whole evening to end in tragedy. I could see the headlines now. Bachelor party goes wrong and ends in a crash. Or something like that.

Yeah, not good.

The other not good thing? I realized that all of them getting rides meant I was stuck here since I’d bummed a ride. And then an idea occurred to me.

"Hey Dan," I said. "How about you let me borrow your car tonight, and I'll bring it over in the morning and you can take me home? That way you don't have to leave it parked at the strip club overnight."

He shrugged and grinned again, then tossed me his keys.

Bingo. This night had gone away better than I thought. Of course whether or not I still felt that way in the morning remained to be seen.

8

Jasmine

I looked down at the French fries in front of me. I probably shouldn't be having these if I wanted to keep my figure in check, but I could just do an extra few minutes on the treadmill for the rest of the week or something. Maybe.

Okay probably not.

"Go on and eat them," Tiffany said. "You're always worried about your figure and you always look great."

"That's because I have to keep in shape if I want to keep making the kind of money I've been making," I said.

"Come on," Tiffany said. "You know you're one of the best looking girls in the place. It's why you're able to make so much money."

I looked at her and cocked an eyebrow. "Why Tiffany," I said. "That almost sounds like…"

Tiffany picked up a French fry and tossed it across the table at me. It hit my face and I felt something wet. When I looked down I realized there was ketchup on the tip of the fry.

"Gross!" I said. "You could have warned me before you hit me with that thing.”

Tiffany rolled her eyes. "Now there's a sentence that sums up my love life."

Again I looked at her. Again I arched my eyebrow suggestively. "You know if you are…"

She held up another French fry, and this time I could see she'd dipped more than the tip in ketchup. I held up my hands in surrender.

"Okay! Okay! I give up. Don't hit me with another French fry!"

Tiffany took the French fry she’d been about to lob at my face and took a bite out of the tip instead. Then she looked over at me and smiled with a sweet smile that usually meant she was up to no good.

"Glad we could come to an agreement," she said.

She finished the rest of her fry and that was too much for me. I dipped into mine. I didn't care if it wasn't healthy. I didn't care if I was going to have to spend extra time at the gym to work it off.

All I cared about was relaxing after a long night of working and dancing and being constantly distracted because I knew Taylor was out there somewhere. I was constantly searching the crowd trying to find her and smiling when I did.

After all that I was exhausted and I needed to reward myself. So I dove in.

Tiffany grinned. "That's more like it," she said. "I wish I had your metabolism."

"Metabolism my ass," I said. "This is one hundred percent sweat and work in the gym."

“Uh-huh. Enough of that crap. Are you going to tell me anything about that girl you took into the back?"

I very nearly choked on my fries. I figured it was only a matter of time before Taylor came up, but I thought Tiffany would at least give me a couple of nights before she came out with the questions.

I should have known not to take her powers of observation for granted. Still, that didn't mean I was going to give anything up too easily.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, trying my best to sound sweet and innocent.

"You okay?" Tiffany asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said.

I felt ridiculous even as I said it because of course I didn't look fine what with tears streaming down my face. I was still having a little trouble breathing.

"Good," Tiffany said. "Now that we've established you're fine, why don't you cut the bullshit denying that there’s anything going on with you and that girl and go ahead and tell me what's going on with you and that girl?”

"You can be really annoying sometimes," I said. "I want you to know that."

Her smile grew even wider. “We wouldn't be best friends if I wasn’t annoyingly perceptive sometimes."

I opened my mouth to say something, anything, and thankfully I was saved by the waitress coming over with a pot of coffee in hand.

"Either of you ladies need more?" she asked.

"I'm fine Gladys," I said with a smile.

"I could use some more," Tiffany said. She held out her cup and Gladys obliged.

I looked down at my own cup. It was tempting to have another, but caffeine could do screwy things into my system. Caffeine was about the hardest thing I allowed in my system. It was too easy to go on a slippery slope considering some of the things that were tossed around in the dressing room at work.

Gladys beamed at both of us and I smiled right back at her. It was hard not to like her. She was a sweet old lady who'd been a career waitress. Heck, for all I knew she'd been working at this same diner down the street from the club since she was our age.

This neighborhood had been a lot nicer once upon a time. Not the kind of place that catered to strip clubs. That was all a long time ago though.

Not that it was fair of me to get too judgmental about my current profession considering it was my current profession. Gladys didn't get judgmental about it either. No, she was more than happy to have us as customers. Though the large tips we left after work probably had a lot to do with it.

"You girls let me know if you need anything," she said in her sweet voice.

"Will do Gladys," I said. Tiffany was too busy downing her own coffee to say anything.

"You know you're not getting off that easy," Tiffany said.

I dipped my fry in my ketchup to buy myself a little more time. Even with Gladys coming up and asking us about coffee I still hadn't figured out a way to get out of this conversation I didn't want to have.

Finally I sighed. Looked up at her. I briefly considered hurling my ketchup covered fry at her, but that wouldn't be very nice so I didn't.

"What's there to say? The girl wanted a lap dance so I gave her a lap dance," I said.

"Oh no you don't," Tiffany said. "You're not getting away that easily. I saw you come in from that dance. I saw you put your stuff on as quickly as you could and then turn right back around to go out on the floor."

"So?"

"So you never do that," she said. "Getting you to go out on the floor for dances is like pulling teeth."

I sighed again. One of the bad things about trying to have a conversation like this with my best friend was she knew everything about my work habits. Heck, everybody knew about my habit of avoiding going out on the floor.

Usually I made enough from my time on stage, and there were other girls who were more than happy to give up their slot on the stage if it meant they could go out and get a private dance which usually paid more.

I could probably make more too if I could put up with it, but it was something I usually only did if I was hard up for money. Or if there was obviously one of those couples out there looking for a walk on the wild side.

Those couples had become my specialty, and it was another thing the other girls were more than happy to toss to me.

"So I gave a private dance to a girl," I said. "The money…"

"Don't bullshit me," Tiffany said. "I know you didn't take a cent from her."

I dropped the fry I'd been eyeing. Looked at Tiffany with wide eyes. "How did you…"

I realized my mistake the moment I opened my mouth, but by then the words were out and it was too late. She didn't have any idea how much money had or hadn't changed hands when I went back for that private dance with Taylor. No, she was on a fishing expedition and she’d just landed a whopper.

"You really suck, you know that?"

"At least you can realize when you've been had," Tiffany replied.

I growled. "So I thought the girl was hot. So sue me. I know there’s probably been guys you had the hots for. It didn't mean anything."

"So did you get her number or not?" Tiffany asked.

"What's it to you?" I replied.

Now Tiffany came out with a frustrated sigh. She shook her head.

"You know I'm your best friend. That means you're supposed to confide in me. It doesn't do any good if you have a best friend you don't confide in.”

I blushed and looked down at the burger I still hadn't touched. I was going to have to dive into that thing at some point. And so I did that now. Taking a bite meant I didn’t have to talk to Tiffany for a moment, but only for a moment. She was still waiting when I was done chewing.

"I might have given her my number," I said.

I allowed myself to smile for the first time tonight. There was something about sitting here discussing this with Tiffany that made the whole thing seem more real.

All night long I’d felt like I was in a daze. Like I was in a fairyland. I felt as though the whole thing wasn't actually real.

Talking about this with Tiffany made it real though. And the sudden feeling that it was real made a giddiness spread through me. Tiffany’s knowing smile was infectious.

"So?" Tiffany said. "Are you going to dish or am I going to have to keep drawing this out of you?"

"So she's incredibly hot, it turns out she works for some tech company in town…"

"Tech company?" Tiffany said. "So she’s a huge geek just like you?"

I lobbed a fry across the table. If she was going to start of the war with potato products then I was more than happy to go along with it.

"I have no idea," I said. "That's probably a pretty safe bet though."

"Good," Tiffany said. "It's always nice if you like the same movies when you’re pretending to watch something as an excuse to fuck.”

My eyes went wide, but the thought of watching a movie with Taylor as an excuse to get down and dirty was pretty nice.

She shrugged. "What? Isn't that what this is all about in at the end?"

“There's more to relationships than fucking,” I said. "I think you've been spending too much time with our clients if that's what you think."

"Hey, I've never dated a client. At least not until after they've been coming around for a while."

"Yeah yeah," I said. "The point is this girl seems pretty cool."

"So why don't you call her?" Tiffany asked.

I shook my head. "No way."

"Why not? Don't be such a wimp!"

"It's not that I'm a wimp," I said. "Do you even realize what time it is? People with real jobs are all at home and asleep!"

"I bet your nerdy friend isn't," she said. "She probably still stays up late because she got in the habit playing World of Warcraft back in college."

I fixed Tiffany with my best glare. Not that it did much this late at night. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say this early in the morning.

The point is Tiffany was so exhausted that she refused to be intimidated.

"Come on Tiffany," I said. "Not every geeky person is into World of Warcraft and Star Trek."

"Go ahead and ask her the first time you go on a date," Tiffany said. "I bet she enjoys at least one of the holy trinity."

I cocked an eyebrow. “The holy trinity? What are you going on about now?"

Tiffany held up a hand and ticked off three points on her fingers. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, and World of Warcraft. TV and movies, books, and video games."

Now it was my turn to look at her in pure disbelief. "You seem to know an awful lot about a geeks’ favorite things."

She shrugged. "What can I say? In my line of work you happen to run into a lot of geeky guys, and I figured out that they tip a hell of a lot better if they think you're into some of the same things they are."

"You slut,” I said.

"I prefer to think of it as being a savvy businesswoman rather than being a slut. Especially since I'm not sleeping with my client."

Not sleeping with her client. That sent a fresh wave of guilt running through me. Sure what I did in that back room wasn't exactly sleeping with Taylor, but it was pretty close. Things got hot and heavy, and I felt a longing deep inside me, a tingling that started in my stomach and moved down between my legs, as I thought of some of the things we did.

"Earth to Jasmine," Tiffany said.

I looked up and blinked.

"Sorry," I said. "Got a little lost there."

“I’d say," Tiffany said. "So you're going to call that girl, right?"

"If I call her do you promise to get off my case?" I asked.

"I don't promise to do anything of the sort," she said. "But I do promise to continue bothering you until the two of you are happily married."

"I'm in my early twenties. What makes you think I want to be a happily married to anyone any time soon?” I asked.

"I'll settle for you happily in a relationship with a girl. The point is you need to call her and you need to get this locked down!"

"Fine, fine," I groused. "I promise I’ll call her!”

And with that I went back to enjoying my burger and fries. No matter what Tiffany wanted I had no intention of calling Taylor this late in the evening. Or this early in the morning.

I’d give her a call soon though.

9

Taylor

“So?"

I turned away from my computer and looked up at Dan who was hanging over my cubicle wall. "So what?"

So was last Friday night awesome or what?"

I tried to hold in my grin. I tried to hold in the giddy excitement that had been threatening to burst free ever since that night.

I woke up Saturday morning, though it would be fair to say it was closer to Saturday afternoon, filled with excitement. I was ready to take on the world. That euphoria kept me going all the way through Sunday, though by the end of the day Sunday I found myself glancing at my phone more and more wondering if Jasmine wasn't going to call me after all.

Now it was Monday and I hadn't heard anything. I guess there really was a part of me that had been hoping something might've been growing there.

"Yeah, it was a good night,” I said when I realized Dan was still standing there waiting for an answer.

He held out a hand for me to high-five. I eyed it for a moment. I felt like giving him a high five would be acknowledging that he'd been absolutely right with his persistent bothering last Friday.

If I let them know that he was absolutely correct in persistently bugging me that meant a possibility that he’d have absolutely no problem bothering me again the next time they had a party like that.

Finally I relented though. After all, he'd been right. I'd had a good time. I met a hot girl, and I had the blush-inducing memories of everything that had happened that night.

Even if nothing else came of it I had of those wonderful memories.

“So what would you say to making that a thing we do every week?" Dan asked.

"Not a chance in hell," I said.

"How about every month?" he asked.

I eyed him for a long moment. "I'll think about it."

"Good!"

It didn't occur to me until after he said that with a twinkle in his eye that maybe he’d started with once a week as a negotiating point and he'd always meant to go for once a month. Though I had trouble believing Dan could be that sneaky.

“So did anything else happen with you and that hottie?" Dan asked.

I looked up at him sharply. Narrowed my eyes. "What I did with anyone this weekend is none of your damn business."

Again he held up his hands in a defensive gesture. "Hey! I'm just making conversation here."

“Sorry," I said. "I just…"

"I know. You get touchy every time someone starts talking about your love life," he said.

"Am I that obvious?" I asked.

“Pretty much,” Dan said.

"You’d get annoyed too if you had a bunch of people walking around talking about how hot your love life was," I said.

Dan frowned. "I don't think anyone's ever accused me of that. Not even the girls I've dated."

"Maybe someday you'll find that right girl," I said.

"Maybe," he said. "But in the meantime, I can promise you I'm not asking you this because the thought of you getting a lap dance from that woman is totally hot."

I cocked an eyebrow. He blushed.

"Sorry. That came out all wrong."

"I'll say," I said.

"But you know what I mean. I was just trying to make friendly conversation. I’m trying here.”

"I know exactly what you mean Dan,” I said. "You just have a really bad habit of putting your foot in your mouth."

“Maybe, but you’re avoiding the question. Did you hear from her?"

I sighed. That was the rub of it. That was why I didn’t like bringing this up. It was a reminder of how little had happened after that first promising night.

“Not a peep. And I was so hopeful after everything…"

I clammed up. That was getting close to the sort of titillating territory I tried very hard to avoid. I didn't want to go there.

"Well I'm sure she'll give you a call soon enough," Dan said. "Or you could shoot her a text."

"Maybe I will," I said.

And with that Dan was gone. Though it was nice to have his words to think over. After all, what was stopping me from texting her?

I pulled my phone out and tapped out a message. Sent it off before I had a chance to think about it too much. A simple “hi how are you doing?” I wasn't sure what else to say.

Thanks for the free lap dance? Thanks for that incredibly hot moment when you were on top of me and…

I blushed and put my phone down. I didn't want a record of that in my texting history. If somebody were to grab my phone and figure out my password then it would be ridiculously embarrassing.

Not that I thought it was likely somebody would grab my phone and figure out my password, but you could never be to safe.

And then the waiting game started again. I kept glancing at my phone. It was a semi-welcome distraction from the normal ho-hum frustration of working. The never ending annoyance of having people calling in and asking questions about a specialized software platform they should damn well know how to operate by now.

There were times when I wanted to scream at clients that they'd been using this software for longer than I’d been employed at the company. Why the hell didn't they know what they were doing at this point?

But I didn't.

Though I came close a couple of times. I was a little more on edge than usual because of waiting on Jasmine to text me back. Wondering if she was ever going to text me back.

The work day ended. No text. I braved the drive home. No text. I got home and decompressed. No text.

I didn't get any response until I was about to turn in for the night. And by "turn in for the night" I meant I was about to sit down with my laptop and delve into a fascinating video game and keep going until I dozed off and the computer fell to my side in my depressingly empty bed.

Some nights that meant I went right to sleep. Other nights that meant I was up well past midnight.

Then my phone buzzed and all my plans changed. I looked down and saw it was a message from Jasmine. My scalp tingled and my blood got pumping..

"Hi.”

One word that could mean so much. I tried not to overthink it. Tried not to go too crazy analyzing it. So she just sent a simple message. Hi. One word.

What did that mean? Did a one word response mean she wasn't interested in me? Did it mean she wanted me to leave her alone?

I shook my head. I was overthinking this. So I put down my laptop, picked up my phone, and tapped at my screen.

"Hi yourself," I sent back.

"Sorry it took so long to get back to you," she said. "I tend to sleep through the day since I mostly work nights."

I shook my head. Of course that made sense. If I worked a job where I was up that late I’d probably get used to vampire hours too. Heck, there'd been a time in college when I’d been so into World of Warcraft that I'd regularly gone to bed just as the sun was coming up.

I’d nearly failed out that semester, just passing by the skin of my teeth. I was one of the lucky ones. I’d played with college students who hadn't been so lucky.

There were times when I wondered how many of my generation had been lost to the war in Azeroth. Even if it wasn't a war like any other generation had waged.

"I'm glad to hear from you," I said.

"And I was glad to hear from you," she replied. "You have any plans tonight?"

I thought about that. I had to be up for work in the morning, but staying up past my bedtime was hardly something new. I suppose it wouldn't hurt anything if I was staying up late to spend time with Jasmine rather than staying up late playing another round in Civilization.

"I don't have plans," I said. "But I also have to be in bed by at least one so I'll have enough sleep to function at work tomorrow."

"Amateur," Jasmine said. "Coffee should solve all of those problems. Trust me, we’ll have a good time.”

I was genuinely curious to find out what she had in mind. It's not like there was much to do after dark. Not in this town.

"I could go out. Any idea what we could do? My activities at this time of night usually involve playing World of Warcraft or some other game," I said.

"Wait. Are you serious? World of Warcraft?"

Worry lanced through me. Worry that maybe I’d revealed to much of my geeky side.

Then again I told her I worked in tech support. What did she expect from a girl who had a job in tech support? Being a geek was pretty much one of the resume requirements.

"Is there a problem with that?" I asked.

I was both annoyed and worried. Annoyed that she might think gaming was a disqualifier. Worried that she would think it was a disqualifier. I didn’t want to be disqualified from hanging out with her.

"No, it's nothing," she said. "Just something I was talking about with a friend."

"Oh. So do you have an idea for something we could do that's not video game related?"

"Well I've got an idea, but I'm not sure how much you'll like it."

"Really? What?"

Color me intrigued. What could she be talking about that had her worried about how I would react?

"Well it's one of my favorite things to do, but I can never get anyone to do it because they think it's silly."

Okay. Now I was really interested. What could she possibly want to do that was more socially unacceptable than staying up all night playing video games?

Though, come to think of it, that had become a lot more socially acceptable in recent years.

"Come on," I said. "I promise I won't think it's weird or anything."

"Fine. What would you say to a game of laser tag?"

I stared down at my phone for a long moment. Was she serious? I mean it's not like it was something to be embarrassed about, but laser tag wasn't something I'd thought about since I was in middle school or high school maybe. And even then it had been with little cheap toys and not a facility.

My hometown was small enough that they didn't have that sort of thing.

"Are you serious?" I asked.

"I'm sorry. It was a stupid idea. We could go out and have drinks or something…"

I had a feeling and that going out for drinks was the last thing she wanted to do. She was surrounded by people who were "out having a drink" all night long at her work. I could feel of the disappointment coming through her text.

"No! Laser tag sounds awesome. Where is it? I didn't even know they had places like that around here."

"Trust me. I know a great place. Want me to pick you up?"

I grinned and blushed. “Pick me up? This is starting to sound like a real date.”

"Isn't it?"

Again I was brought up short. Again I was left staring at my phone and searching my feelings. Looking for what I knew to be true.

Was this a date? I know I wanted it to be a date. Sure there was a part of me that still said this was crazy. That this was a girl I met at a strip club.

But you know what? Fuck that little voice. That was the same voice that whispered to me that it was wrong to date girls, and the little voice had sure as hell been wrong about that.

So it was probably wrong about this too. That was one of the liberating things about going through the experience of coming out of the closet. After you told your friends and family you were gay pretty much everything else was small potatoes in comparison.

"Yeah, it's totally a date!"

"Glad to hear that. It would've been really awkward to get to the arena and find out we were trying to frag each other as just friends."

"Yeah, totally awkward," I said.

"So where should I pick you up?"

Once more her question gave me pause, only this time it wasn't any sort of existential debate about my love life. No, this time pause was to think over some practicalities of meeting someone for the first time.

It was something I had a lot of practice with since most of my dating experience since leaving college had been of the online variety.

I could still remember a time when online dating was so new that you weren't supposed to meet anybody you talked to on the web. You weren't even supposed to online date. I could also remember the number one piece of advice back then when I was very young.

Don't give someone your home address.

This wasn’t exactly online dating since we’d met in person, but it was close enough. The same rules applied. I didn’t know her, not really, even if I had a good feeling. Better to be careful.

Luckily there was a restaurant just down the street from my apartment complex that would do nicely.

"There's a Taco Fiesta on Wilson Street. Pick me up there in twenty minutes."

“Clever girl. See you then."

I put my phone down. I wasn't sure if she was saying I was a clever girl because I was having her pick me up somewhere other than my apartment or because of my choice of restaurant.

Not that any of that mattered. No, the real problem now was I had to get ready for a date and I told her to pick me up in twenty minutes. It would take me at least five to make the walk which meant I had a grand total of maybe ten minutes to and get out of my comfortable pajama shorts and tank top and into something presentable for a date.

Damn. I should've asked for a half-hour at least.

10

Jasmine

I felt a familiar old fluttering in my stomach as I pulled into the Fiesta Taco. And for once it didn't have anything to do with pulling into one of my favorite Mexican food establishments.

She stood near the entrance looking absolutely gorgeous. Short shorts. A tank top with porcelain skin that positively glowed in the light from the Taco Fiesta sign.

Fiesta Taco and sexy. Now there was something no one had probably ever said about a Fiesta Taco before, but I was saying it now.

I pulled up and rolled down my window.

"Looking for a ride?" I asked.

She leaned forward. “Depends. Where are you going?"

"Wherever you want baby," I said.

That was as far as I could take this routine before bursting into laughter. I felt like something right out of Pretty Woman, though of course I didn't even know if they'd said those exact lines.

It had been so long since I'd seen that movie that I mostly just had an image of Richard Gere picking up Julia Roberts in an expensive car he couldn't drive.

I really needed to watch that one again soon.

"Let's get going!" Taylor said.

She came around the front and stepped into the car. Or at least she tried to. She pulled on the handle a couple of times and nothing happened. I blushed and reached out to hit the locks, and a moment later she was climbing into the car next to me.

As she slid in I was acutely aware of everything about her. Her smell wafted across the center console to the driver side and I breathed it in deeply. Then I realized exactly what I’d just done and hoped it didn’t come off as a little creepy.

She looked at me, smiled, and I felt better. I hit her with a sheepish grin.

"So having a good night so far?" I asked.

“Better now," she said. "How about you?"

"Pretty good. I just had breakfast and I'm ready to seize the night!"

"Carpe noctem!” Taylor said.

"Is that even the right word?"

"I have no clue," she said. "I dated a guy who was majoring in Latin back before I realized, you know…"

"Oh I know," I said.

I thought back to some of my own ill advised dating encounters back when I was still lying to myself about who I was and what I really wanted. The less said about those the better. I was much happier now that I was honest with myself.

Even if it did mean I had to put up with a never ending torrent of bullshit from that bitch Tara at work.

We kept up with banter as I drove over to the laser tag place which was about fifteen minutes away. It was the quickest fifteen minute drive in my life. I couldn't believe how easy it was to talk with her. How we were laughing and giggling and having a great time.

As though we'd known each other our whole lives.

It felt good. I hadn't had this kind of immediate connection with a girl since I developed an unfortunate girl crush on my best friend way back in middle school.

Again, the less said about how that turned out the better.

Finally we pulled up to the place. It was one of my favorite spots in town. I didn't care if laser tag wasn't the kind of thing you would expect a girl in my profession to be into.

I'd certainly never mentioned it to any of my clients. This place was my sanctum sanctorum, even if my sanctum sanctorum tended to be overrun with screaming middle school kids.

No, I didn't want to ruin the magic of this place. I knew the moment I told any clients about it would be the moment the place was overrun with creepy middle-aged guys looking to get up close and personal with me by proving how much they were into the same stuff I was.

No thanks.

"So do you come here often?" Taylor asked.

"I like to come here when I need to unwind."

"I like it," she said. "It's quirky."

Quirky. Yeah, that was one way to describe it. I reached out and grabbed her hand. Sure I was being forward, but it felt like things were going so well. I gave her hand a squeeze and she squeezed right back.

"I'm glad you feel that way. I was worried…"

"What?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "Worried I’d think this was totally fucking awesome? We’re going to shoot laser guns on our first date. How could I not like that?"

"Thanks," I said. "You know you're the first person I met at work that I've ever taken to this place."

"I'm honored," she said. Then she continued on in a different tone of voice that left no doubt that she was fishing for information. "Do you go out with your clients often?"

I turned and looked her in the eyes. I briefly thought about lying, but there was something about the way she looked at me that told me lying wouldn't be a good way to start. So I shrugged.

"Might as well go for brutal honesty here," I said. "There have been a few girls who came through the club looking for a little something, and I've given that to them. But going on an actual date? No, you’re the first.”

"That's fair enough," she said. "I'm not really in a position to date at my job. I'm the only girl there who’s into the fairer sex, and I'm definitely not going to date any of the guys.”

"Must be nice," I said.

"Yeah? I’d think you’d enjoy checking out the scenery at work?"

"It's not that so much as the scenery thinks I'm always checking it out, and there are a couple of girls who can get pretty nasty about it."

"You mean like that girl you were giving the stink eye when we came out of the private room?" she asked.

"Yeah, something like that," I said. "She has her clique and she decided she didn't like me early on. She says it's because she doesn't like me, but I'm pretty sure it's because she doesn't like that I’m a lesbian. Like she’s terrified I’ll be checking her out or something.”

“Probably gay herself,” Taylor muttered. “Not that it excuses it, but sounds like a classic closet case projecting.”

“Maybe, but I wouldn’t wish dating her on my worst enemy,” I said. “Not that she’d date herself.”

Taylor giggled at my bad joke. Really it was more than the joke deserved, but I’d take it.

"I'm sorry you have to deal with that,” she said. “I’ve never had to deal with crap like that at work, and I can't imagine…"

I smiled and patted her leg. I tried to ignore the heat that shot through me as I touched her bare leg. That reminded me of some of the things we did together that night in the private room before we came out and ran into Tara.

Yeah, we were really reversing things here. Getting hot and heavy in that private room and then going on the first date a few days later.

"Enough about that crap," I said, forcing a smile on my face. Not that I had to work too hard to bring that smile to my face. Not with her looking at me with that smile and those sexy eyes. "Let's go in and frag some middle school kids!"

"There's a phrase that would get you on a watch list if you typed it out online," she said. "But I agree. Let's go!"

We were out of place as we stepped into the laser tag place, but I didn't care. The guy at the entrance looked up and smiled when he saw me.

"Jasmine! It's been a while!"

"Good to see you Mr. Thomas," I said, a smile splitting my face. It was hard not to smile with Mr. Thomas. He was always so happy and so full of life.

"And you brought a friend tonight! Wonderful!"

"Yeah, this is my date. Taylor." I looked at her for any sign that she might get annoyed that I called her my date, but there was nothing. She was beaming and she looked absolutely beautiful.

I mean she looked beautiful no matter what, but she looked particularly beautiful this way with that huge smile on her face. She was gorgeous. She was the most beautiful girl in the room.

Of course it didn't hurt that she was the only person my age in the room aside from some soccer moms who were obviously checking out of reality by staring into their phones while their kids were no doubt inside playing.

"A date!" Mr. Thomas said. His voice was endless enthusiasm. "In that case you get a special rate tonight! Two-for-one!"

I held out a hand even as I knew it wasn't going to do a damn bit of good. He was just that nice.

"There's really no need for you to do that Mr. Thomas…"

He shook his head, his mustache shaking along with. He also had a wild shock of silvery white hair that stuck out making him look like a young Einstein minus the accent.

"I won't hear of it!" he said. "You're here on a date and that means you get two-for-one. A deal for one of my best customers!"

I looked around. A couple of those soccer moms were looking up, and some of them looked irritated. No doubt annoyed that I was getting a special deal while they were paying full price to have their kids play.

Oh well. That was their problem, not mine. I turned back and returned Mr. Thomas’s infectious granite.

"That would be wonderful Mr. Thomas," I said.

"Of course it would be wonderful!" he said. "Now how many games do you want to play?"

"How about the unlimited?" I asked.

"Of course," he said. "I don't know why I ask. You never do anything else!"

I looked over to Taylor to gauge her reaction. It's not like I was ashamed of my favorite pastime, it's just that it felt a little odd to do something that most people aged out of by the end of high school. But I loved this place, and I wasn't going to let the fact that society thought I shouldn't be playing laser tag stop me from enjoying myself.

Next to coming out of the closet having society looked down at me for doing something that was a little outside of my age range was nothing.

“Man,” Taylor said as I got our wristbands for the night. "This place is like your Cheers. I half expected them to call you Norm or something."

I grinned. "I never watched enough of that show to know what you're talking about, but sure."

"You totally should," she said. "It's on Netflix. We'll have to watch it sometime while we’re chilling."

I blushed at the unspoken promise of what she'd just said. I was well aware what "Netflix and chill” meant. And the thought of “chilling” with her was exciting. Really exciting.

"I'd like that," I said.

"You're not the only one," she replied. "So are we going to do this?"

“Hell yes!” I said.

"There's just one problem," she said.

"What's that?" I asked, suddenly worried.

"Well I’ve never done this sort of thing before. It would be my first time," she said.

I couldn't help but blush at the obvious double entendre. I looked her up and down. A considering look if there ever was one.

"Oh really? This is your first time?"

"Yeah," she said. "So be gentle."

We managed to look at each other without breaking up for the space of maybe ten seconds. Ten seconds and we both burst into laughter.

"Sorry, that was too much," I said.

"Not at all," she replied. "I was hoping you’d say something."

"So are you ready to go? I'll show you the ropes, promise."

"Definitely!"

And so with that we went back to get our vests and prepare for a fun night of laser tag.

11

Taylor

I brushed my hands against my shorts and gave the apartment one final once over. It's not like the place was a complete pigsty or anything. I wasn't going to be on an episode of hoarders any time soon.

Still, it more untidy than I’d like it to be. Especially before a date. Then again whose apartment or house was ever as tidy as they’d like it to be?

I wanted everything to look perfect. I wanted to make a good first impression tonight. So I breezed through the place one more time and picked up a couple of socks sticking out from under my couch. How had those even gotten down there?

I didn't even want to think about how long they'd been down there before I noticed them just now.

I turned to the TV. Made sure everything was ready to go there. The PlayStation was set up and Netflix was good to go. I couldn't wait to try out that new show about the royal family. Matt Smith was an absolute dreamboat.

At least he struck me as the kind of guy who would be an absolute dreamboat if I was into that sort of thing. I loved him in Doctor Who, and I figured he’d be pretty good playing royalty.

Though the less said about his role in that Schwarzenegger movie the better.

Not that I planned on doing much viewing, whatever we decided to watch tonight. No, Jasmine was coming over to Netflix and chill, and butterflies danced in my stomach as I mentally put emphasis on the "chill" part of that phrase.

At least I hope that's where the emphasis would be.

It had been two weeks since that first date at the laser tag place. We'd since been on a couple more dates there. Mr. Thomas was starting to think of me as a regular as much as he thought of Jasmine as a regular.

It felt a little weird to be thought of as a regular where most of the people our age were either people coming through for a party as a one time thing or people who'd made questionable decisions about birth control earlier in life so they now had kids who were old enough to go to laser tag.

Other than those parents the crowd skewed way younger and way older than Jasmine or myself.

My final sweep of the apartment was interrupted by a knock at the door. Damn. I wasn't anywhere close to being ready, but then again I didn't think I’d ever be completely ready.

This was a big step. We’d done our fair share of canoodling before, a couple of times in the back of a mostly deserted theater and at least once in a secluded corner of the laser tag place where there were conveniently no cameras to watch as we paused to make out, but other than that we hadn't had anything approaching that incredible experience I got the first night when we went back to a private room at Jasmine's work.

I hadn’t been back to Jasmine's work. Sure the guys had talked about maybe going again, making it a monthly thing, but so far they hadn’t actually turned it into a regular thing.

Never mind that a month hadn’t passed yet. I looked down at my outfit. Hoped it was suitably enticing. I wanted everything to go perfect tonight. I wanted this to be a magical night that I remembered for the rest of my life.

What I really wanted was for this to be the beginning of many magical nights. There were still times when I had trouble believing this was actually happening, that I'd fallen for a girl I met at a strip club, but I also wasn't one to question it when the universe threw me something nice.

Even if that something nice wasn't exactly in the package I'd expected.

I threw open the door and there she was looking gorgeous. She was in a pair of pajamas much the same as my own. A tank top top and shorts down below.

That made me wonder if maybe she was planning on spending the night.

I made no secret of looking her up and down. Really checking her out. I wanted her to know just how interested I was. Just how much I'd been looking forward to this.

"Damn,” she said.

"Damn yourself," I replied.

We stood staring for a long awkward moment. Even though I didn't want it to be an awkward moment. I guess there were some things about the opening dance of a relationship that were going to be awkward no matter what. Finally she piped up and interrupted the awkward.

"So were you going to invite me in or…"

I could have smacked myself. Of course. Not an awkward moment. Or if it was an awkward moment it was entirely my fault seeing as how I was standing here blocking her way.

I stepped to the side and motioned for her to come in.

"Welcome to my humble home," I said.

"Not bad," she said. “This place is nice. Way nicer than the place I share with my friend."

"Oh?" I asked. "I didn't know you had a roommate."

It was a reminder that there was a lot I didn't know about her. A lot that I had to discover. But I was looking forward to discovering those things. I was looking forward to taking as much time as was needed to discover those things.

"Yeah, my friend Tiffany," she said. “You probably saw her at the club. Pretty blonde girl. We got a place together to save money a few years back, and she was the one who actually got me into my current line of work."

"Really?" I said, not sure how to take that.

Jasmine shrugged, obviously sensing something in my tone.

"What can you do? I saw the kind of money she was pulling down on a weekly basis for what amounted to a couple of nights work, and I couldn't resist!"

"I suppose you've got a point there," I said.

Jasmine looked around the apartment, and I felt another one of those brief awkward moments coming on. Sure we'd been dating and things had been getting pretty hot and heavy, but this was the first time one of us had been back to the other’s apartment. It was a big step.

"Nice place you’ve got here," she said. "I can't believe how clean it is!"

I laughed. I couldn't help it. "Yeah, well you should've seen how much time I invested in making sure everything looked nice and clean."

She let out a long breath and giggled right along with me. "I'm so glad to hear you say that. I was starting to worry that…"

"I was a crazy neat freak or something?" I asked. "Don't get me wrong. I'm not a slob, but this is definitely not how the apartment usually looks."

She took it all in. “Still. This is pretty impressive, being able to afford a place like this all on your own."

"One of the perks of working in the tech sector I suppose," I said. "What about you? You probably make more than I do in your line of work."

"Maybe," she said. "I also like to save as much of that money as possible. I'm well aware there's an expiration date on my current career, and I’m not going to be one of those sad girls still out there shaking it for money after my ass starts to sag."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm having a hard time imagining your ass sagging at all," I said.

“Do you spend a lot of time imagining my ass?" she asked with a smirk.

I blushed, but I wasn't going to say no. She certainly had me there. After all, I’d done my fair share of fantasizing about her. Ass included. I'd seen tantalizing glimpses of the full package when we were making out, but I'd never come close to seeing the whole thing one-on-one.

Sure there was the night I saw her dancing on stage, but that was different. It wasn't the same as seeing her in my apartment.

“So I was thinking we could maybe watch a movie or…"

I let the unspoken implication hang between us. I didn't want her to think I was assuming we were going to get down to business right away, but that's pretty much what it meant when you invited someone over to watch a movie.

At least that's what it had meant the last time I was dating. Admittedly it had been about a year or so because I was too busy with work to think about a dating life.

I was getting away from myself though. Concentrate on the date happening in front of me right now. Not the dates that hadn't been happening for the past year for various reasons.

“Oh my God," she said. "Is that Kart Racers?”

I looked down to the pile of video games sitting to the right of my flat screen. Sure enough there was Kart Racers sitting near the top. I was usually more of a PC gamer, but when I did game on a console that was one of my favorites.

"Of course," I said. "Do you play?"

"It's only one of my most favorite games!" she said, her voice dripping with excitement.

I tried my best to hide my disappointment. After all, it was something fun we could do together. Still, I couldn't help but feel just a little disappointed. I'd invited her over here in the hopes that we might do a little making out and heavy petting. Maybe do something similar to what went down that night at the strip club.

I didn't mind playing video games, but playing video games meant there wouldn't be as much time for other things.

Damn.

Still, if the girl was into playing Kart Racers then I couldn't be completely disappointed.

"If you want to…"

"I'd love to!" she said. "My roommate Tiffany isn't a fan of gaming at all. She’s always giving me shit about it."

I rolled my eyes. "I know exactly what you mean. The guys at work like to go on about how they’re all hard-core gamers, but they've forgotten their roots. None of them want to play a classic game. They're all into shooting games. I think they're just upset because I beat them every time we play."

"Really now?" Jasmine asked, the interest obvious in her voice. I knew I'd just touched a nerve with her. A nerve that every gamer has when they run up against someone who thinks they’re good at a favorite game. "How good would you say you are?"

"Good enough to have a three star rating in every game since the GameSphere version," I said. I looked at her with a sudden interest mixed with hope. Could it be there was an actual challenger standing before me? "How good are you?"

"Good enough," she said.

I noticed she was saying something without saying anything by saying she was good enough. Interesting. Interesting indeed.

I hated to think it, but thoughts of what we might be missing out on by playing a video game fled my mind. Instead I was more interested in how good she actually was. It was so rare that I found an actual challenger since most people thought it was a kids’ game. It was so much more than that, but tell that to the knuckle draggers who thought fighting each other with virtual guns was the end all be all of the gaming experience.

"So what would you say to a friendly challenge?" I asked.

"That could be fun," she replied, obviously trying to sound cool and casual.

Oh yeah. This was getting very interesting. Not where I expected date night to go, but it was a good direction regardless.

I fired up the first race and it was immediately obvious that Jasmine was good. Really good. Maybe even as good as me.

Maybe better, as much as I hated to admit it. I stuck my tongue out and leaned forward in concentration.

"It's a damn shame they got rid of the bikes for this game," she said.

I couldn't agree with her more, and that agreement caused a momentary distraction which allowed her to get in a nasty shot with a red shell and she sailed across the finish line a split second ahead of me.

"That was dirty pool!" I said.

"I won, didn't I?" she asked.

"Well just you wait. That was only the first game.”

“Don't feel too bad," Jasmine said. "You're really good at this. Almost as good as me."

I let out a growl. Nobody insulted my gaming ability like that, thank you very much! If she was going to play dirty then I could play dirty too.

I brought up the next race. This time I kept all my focus on the screen and not on her. At least until the last lap when she was slightly ahead of me and I only had one green shell left. A green shell that would shoot off in whatever direction I fired it. Not even a homing shell that would do all the work for me.

Damn.

But if she could play dirty then I could play dirty too. I moved my foot out and rubbed it against hers. I felt her jump, and that jump translated into her controller which in turn moved to her player on screen.

That was enough of a distraction to keep her in one place long enough that I fired off my shell which slammed into her and gave me the victory.

I sailed through the finish line and this time she was the one turning and glaring at me.

"Not fair," she said. Her lip jutted out in a sexy little pout that I tried to ignore, but it was difficult.

"How is that any different from what you did to me?"

"I was just talking to you about game mechanics," she said. "You were really playing dirty. Using your sexiness as a weapon!"

I blushed and turned back to the screen. Using my sexiness as a weapon? Had she really just phrased it that way?

Still, I couldn't help but smile at her assessment of what I'd done. If my sexiness was a weapon then I was more than happy to use it. Video games were serious business, and I’d use any weapon in my arsenal.

Especially when it seemed like she might be better than me. It was something I hated to admit, but here we were.

"So it seems like we’re pretty evenly matched," she said.

"Honestly it looks like you might be a little better than me," I replied.

"I'm glad you can see greatness when you're in its presence," she said. "But we really are pretty even. What would you say to making things more interesting?"

I turned to her and she licked her lips. Something about her made me think she was suddenly getting back to the roots of this date night. Back to what I'd been hoping would happen when we sat down to watch a movie together.

And the way she licked her lips and looked me up and down left no doubt in my mind what she was going for. Still, I had to play the game.

That was part of the fun.

"What exactly did you have in mind?" I asked.

"I think you know what I have in mind," she said. "The same thing you had in mind when you brought up Netflix on your PlayStation before I interrupted you with this game."

"And what did…"

She grinned and leaned in closer. So close that her lips almost brushed against mine, but not quite. Yeah, if I was using my sexiness as a weapon then she was doing the same right about now.

"I think we both know what we want out of tonight," she said. "But how about we have some fun with it?"

I opened my mouth to say something, but I had trouble finding my voice. I was afraid my voice would crack or something if I tried to speak. Finally I cleared my throat and managed to get it under control.

"So what were you thinking?"

"How about strip Kart Racing?”

I blinked. Okay then. Not what I was expecting, but I was interested.

"Strip Kart Racing?”

She leaned in and kissed me. Fire flew out from where her lips brushed against mine. God knew she could turn me into a melting puddle of hormonal goo with just a simple touch and I loved it!

"Exactly!" she said, a mischievous gleam in her eye. "I'm sure you've played strip poker?"

"Actually I haven't," I said.

"Oh. Well you know how it's played?"

I fixed her with an "are you fucking kidding me?” look.

"Just making sure," she said.

"So what are the terms of this game?” I asked.

"I should think that would be obvious," she said. "Every time one of us wins the other loses an article of clothing. Sound fair?"

"I suppose that's fair enough," I said. I swallowed. I was suddenly very nervous.

This was new. Something fun, but something new. And I couldn't wait to try it out.

I brought up another game. Got us ready. Our racers came up on screen and then the little guy showed up with his stoplight. The beeping started, and I felt butterflies dancing in my stomach.

This was going to be the most fun race I'd ever run in my life.

12

Jasmine

Taylor seemed almost reluctant to go ahead with this plan. It occurred to me that maybe there was something to that. After all, I was so used to taking my clothes off as a part of my job that taking my clothes off as a part of a game didn't seem like that big of a deal to me.

Even if it sort of was a big deal.

It had been so long since I was with a girl I was into rather than a girl I was with because it was something to pass the time, a convenient tryst that fell into my lap because of work, that I'd forgotten what this could feel like with someone I really cared about.

But with Taylor it was real. It was hot. And I found myself wanting more and more of her.

I shivered as I looked her over. As I wondered if she would go for this.

"So what do you say?" I asked, trying not to betray how much I wanted this. Though there was a catch in my voice. And I felt like she had to see the way I shivered.

There was a pause. A long moment of hesitation that stretched out. That drove me wild.

She was killing me here. Finally she smiled and relief washed over me.

"I think that sounds nice," she said.

I breathed a relieved sigh. For a moment I’d worried that maybe I'd taken things too far too fast.

"So you’ve really never done something like this before?" I asked.

"Not really," she said. "What about you?"

I shrugged. "I've played the occasional game of strip poker, but never something like this. Never with a video game."

A smile split Taylor's face. "In that case I guess it's going to be the first time for both of us!”

Trying something out for the first time with Taylor. Yeah, that sounded like a pretty nice idea. I took in a breath and sighed. That sounded really fucking nice.

I licked my lips. I tried to keep the shuddering that threatened to overwhelm my body under control. It had been a long time since I'd felt anything like this. It had been so very long since I allowed myself to get carried away like this.

The first race was a good one. It was obvious we were both trying pretty hard, but by the end it was also obvious that competition brought out the best in Taylor. She went across the finish line first and I stared at the screen which taunted me with a stunning defeat. I looked at her and she couldn't have looked more happy about her victory.

"What can I say?" she said. "I perform well under pressure."

"I'll say," I said.

"So?" Taylor asked.

I decided to take the easy out everybody took starting out in a game like this. I pulled one shoe off and kicked it to the side.

Taylor looked down and her eyes narrowed. "Hold on a second. You can't do that! A pair of shoes should count as one thing."

"We never came up with that rule ahead of time," I said. "Besides, that's not fair. You're not even wearing shoes or socks!"

“That's not my fault," she said. "Now come on."

Ultimately what decided me was that we were playing this game with an obvious ending in mind. And I wanted to get to that obvious ending as soon as possible. The tension in the room was driving me wild.

So I was more than happy to take both my shoes off and kick them to the side.

I looked at her and grinned. "Happy now?"

“For now," she said. "I'll be better after a few more wins though."

"You wish," I said.

We went back and forth several times. She’d win a game and I’d win a game. It got to the point where I was sitting on the couch in nothing but a bra and panties and she sat next to me in her tank top and panties. It was pretty obvious she wasn't wearing a bra under her pajama top.

That had been pretty obvious from the moment I walked into her apartment, and it had been difficult not to get lost in the distraction.

But distractions were the last thing I needed. Especially when I needed to focus on winning.

The next round started. The stop light turned green. We were off. I used every bit of skill I’d mustered over years of playing these games. I did power slides across curves. I boosted at all the right spots. I took a shortcut I'd learned from watching ghost data I'd downloaded from the Internet trying to figure out the best way to get through a course. I put everything that I had into this, and I still lost.

It's not like I lost legitimately, though. No, we were getting to the end and I felt Taylor moving closer and closer. I felt the heat of her thigh pressing against my own and it was pure ecstasy and pure torture.

It was also distracting enough that I was in danger of losing the game, but I was ready to lose. I was ready for this to reach its natural conclusion. To go where it had been going since the moment I agreed to come over to her apartment.

So I made some subtle changes to my play style. I started tapping the B button which activated the brake and suddenly I wasn't doing as well. It was little things, the sort of thing only a skilled player could do to make it look like they were losing without looking like I was losing on purpose.

It was still difficult. We were neck and neck. We were so close that it was anyone's guess who was going to win even if I was trying my damnedest to lose this one. We were on a course that was one of my favorites, after all, and I was good at it.

The things I do for love.

Finally at the very end it was obvious that Taylor was going to lose even with all of my subtle efforts at throwing the game, so I slammed down on the B button right before I hit the finish line.

Taylor blew past me and let out a whoop of triumph, and then she seemed to realize exactly what I’d done. Taylor turned and stared in disbelief.

"Why did you do that?" she asked.

I turned and grinned. Shrugged. "What can I say? I’m ready for the games to be over."

Taylor seemed to realize exactly what was going on. Exactly what I was ready for. What I'd been ready for since I walked through the door.

That shivering and shuddering was threatening again. I was going to lose it. I stared into her eyes.

"I think it might be fun if you helped. You won so it's only fair that you help me take off my last bit of clothing."

She looked me up and down. Her eyes took in my bra and underwear. It was lacy and red. Something I never wore at work. Something I put on especially for her. Only for her.

Everything was for her.

"Which one am I taking?" she asked, looking down to my panties and up to my bra.

"Whichever one you want," I replied, my voice barely a whisper.

She reached out tentatively. She seemed hesitant. As though she was almost afraid to touch me. It was a hell of a moment. I licked my lips and nodded. Let her know this was okay. That I wanted this.

At least I was screaming that at her mentally. I hoped she got the picture. I was giving her one hell of an invitation. And she took it.

Her hand reached around and she pulled one strap of my bra down. Then the other. I moved my shoulders forward to give a little bit of extra oomph to my cleavage. She seemed to notice. Her eyes went wide as she stared at my breasts still encased by that red lacy number.

God I needed this. God I wanted it so much.

Her hands continued their exploration. She unsnapped my bra and I felt the familiar loosening. I leaned forward and there was nothing to hold it in place. It fell forward, exposing me to Taylor. I felt more exposed than I had in a good long while, and that's including when I was up on stage dancing for customers.

Taylor stared. She seemed enraptured by my body. It was nothing like the men who stared at me at work. There was something more there. Something deeper.

Hell, I felt the same as I looked at her. As her tight clothes made it perfectly obvious what she was hiding under her tank top.

"What do you think?" I asked.

"I think you're beautiful," she replied. "So beautiful."

Her hand was still around my back where she'd undone my bra, but not for long. She traced a delicate line around my back, to the side of my breast. And then she cupped it. I closed my eyes and sighed. Wrapped my arms around her and pulled her in towards me. God I needed this so bad.

“Yes… Touch me Taylor," I gasped.

Okay, so maybe that was a cheesy line, but it seemed like the sort of situation that called for cheesy lines.

And touch me she did. Her hand roamed all around. Exploring, feeling me, sending perfect little pleasurable tingles running through my body. I gasped and my breathing picked up. My breasts heaved as I pressed them against her hands. She moved up my shoulder then down to my stomach. She traced a circle around my belly button then she was moving down. Down.

Down until she found the center of my pleasure. Until she was pressing inside me and the feelings that coursed through me when she was touching my breasts were nothing compared to the feeling of her body pressing into my own.

I wrapped my arms around her. Gasped. Threw my head back and pulled her body against mine as she invaded me.

I yelled her name. I cried out over and over, her name passing my lips with every movement. As she swirled and pressed and manipulated and did everything I loved.

She was a master at work, and I loved it. I wanted more of it. I wanted it all.

She locked eyes with me. Her body over mine. Our breasts pressing together, our stomachs pressing together, the smell of her, the feel of her hair falling down around me, the sound of my cries, quiet and gentle and as insistent as her fingers moving inside me.

And then it hit me.

I didn't know it could feel like this. It had been so long. Sex had become mechanical for me. Something I did because I needed a release. Not something that I did because it was an experience to share with another person.

Only this was an experience I was sharing with Taylor. This was our bodies coming together. This was the ultimate pleasure washing over me and through me as I squeezed my eyes shut and stars danced in the blackness waiting on the other side of my eyelids.

Her heavy breathing joined mine. Our quiet cries filled the room. I wondered if her neighbors might hear, and I didn't give a fuck. No, all I cared about was this moment. This shared experience with Taylor. This perfect moment of bliss.

When I came down sparks still danced all over my body. Little moments of pleasure captured in time. Frozen in a memory that I knew it was going to stay with me for the rest of my life.

Things could change, this could end up not working out between us, but I had that memory. That moment.

I wrapped my arms around her. Pulled her in for a kiss. My tongue pressed into her mouth, and then I wanted to press my tongue into other parts of her.

I needed her. Needed to feel her.

Needed to taste her.

"Are you ready Taylor?" I asked, my voice husky. Full of longing and need. I needed this more than I'd needed any sexual experience ever.

She seemed to realize exactly what I was talking about. Her own body was shivering and shuddering and shaking. She took in a breath and let it out in a soft moan. A quiet gasp.

Yeah, she knew what was about to happen.

And so I kissed down. Pulled up her tank top until she was exposed, but I didn't stop there. Her body, her breasts, were every bit as perfect as I knew from our experience in the private dance room at work, but I wanted more. I wanted something that I didn't get that night.

I wanted her.

And so I kissed down, down, and I found beauty, perfection, waiting for me.

I paused. Looked up at her. My hands were hooked in her underwear and I could see her chest rising and falling and above it all were those gorgeous eyes staring down at me and the desire was clear. The need was clear. It was obvious this was everything she'd been hoping for when she invited me over tonight and then some.

"Do you want me to?" I asked.

"Yes," she breathed.

"I want to hear you beg for it," I said, a mischievous smile coming to my lips.

She blinked and fixed me with a smile of her own. "I want you Jasmine. So bad. More than I've wanted anyone…"

Well then. How could I argue with an invitation as heartfelt as all that?

I couldn't, and so I moved down, down…

13

Taylor

"Thank you for calling technical support. I hope you have a wonderful day!"

“And I hope you’ll go fuck your…"

I reached out and tapped the button that put an end to the call before they could tell me exactly what they hoped I’d go fuck. Even that nasty attitude wasn't enough to bring me down. Not after everything that had happened recently.

I sat there smiling for a moment, a warm glow all over me, before I realized there were more calls in the queue.

Even the normally frustrating sight of a bunch of calls waiting for me wasn't enough to steal my sunshine. Not today. Not after what I’d enjoyed the night before.

No, I was on a high that I'd been enjoying for a week now. I couldn't wait until I got to see Jasmine again.

"How are things going?" I heard a familiar voice ask. I turned around and there were both Stephen and Dan looking down at me with grins of their own.

I didn't even care that they were supposed to be in their own cubicles answering calls. The customers could wait. It's not like we were going to get fired or anything for ignoring them for a little while.

"Things are going pretty great!" I said.

Dan winked. "And is there any reason in particular why things are going so great for you?"

I couldn't help it. I still had a stupid grin on my face. It would be pretty fucking obvious to anyone who looked at me exactly what was going on here, and I didn't care.

"Maybe things are going well," I said. "What's it to you?”

Then someone else appeared over my cubicle wall and I felt my good mood falter for the first time. Jason stared down at me with a grin that wasn't pleasant. Then again his grins never were pleasant.

My smile went down. Not quite into a frown, but I wasn't exactly happy to see him either. Not that I was ever exactly happy to see him.

"What do you want Jason?" I asked.

"I always see you guys having powwows over here," he said. "I figured I’d see what all the fuss is about for a change."

"Don't bother," I said.

The only problem? Right before I could give him the same advice that client had just given me Dan was grinning and spilling his guts. Damn it. Dan never could pick up on anything. So annoying!

"We were just having a conversation here about Taylor's love life," he said.

Jason's eyebrows shot up. "Your love life? Really? I was under the impression there wasn't much of anything going on there."

"What's going on in my love life is none of your damn business," I spat at him.

Jason held his hands up in a clearly defensive move if I'd ever seen one. And I’d seen it plenty of times from him. He was one of those special brands of asshole who loved pushing people to the edge and then tried to dial it back and act like it was just a big joke or something.

"Whoa there," he said. "I was just making friendly conversation. Isn't that what we were doing here?"

Stephen and Dan at least had the good grace to look a little embarrassed. Dan also seemed to realize, too late, that maybe he’d said too much. Then again Dan was always realizing too late that maybe he'd said too much.

"It's okay," I said, not wanting him to get to the point of accusing me of being an asshole for pointing out that he was being an asshole.

That particular bit of logic had always drove me wild, but I wasn't going to give him an opening.

"There's really nothing to talk about," I said.

"No seriously," Jason said. "Are we talking about that girl you met at the club?"

I opened my mouth again to tell him it was none of his damn business, but that would only give him another opening. So I figured I'd tell him as little as I could get away with.

"Maybe," I said.

"Congrats!" he said, looking almost sincere for a moment.

I was immediately on guard. Sincerity from Jason was something to watch out for. Sincerity for him was another tool in his arsenal of causing trouble for people.

"What are you going to say?" I asked.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"We both know how this works," I said. "You act like you're actually interested in whatever someone is saying and then you come out with some little smartass remark that turns it all around. So why don't we skip the small talk and you can get right down to it?”

The smile faltered on Jason's face. Then it disappeared entirely. His eyes narrowed and he shook his head.

"Fine. If you want to be like that. Have you ever stopped to think about what that might look like for your career?" he asked.

"I surely don't know what you're talking about," I said.

He looked at Dan and Stephen who were both making a big production of looking anywhere but at me. Obviously I wasn't going to get any help from that direction.

"I mean dating a stripper," he said. "Sure maybe she's working her way through college or something. It seems like they always are. But you can't trust them, and that wouldn’t look good for a professional such as yourself to be seen with that kind of person."

I bristled at what he was insinuating. Not only was he insulting Jasmine, but he was also insulting me by extension. Yeah, suddenly telling him to do what the customer had just advised me to do didn't seem harsh enough.

No, insulting him wasn't good enough. What I really wanted to do was launch myself across the cubicle and claw his eyes out. I didn't know what it was about this guy that always got under my skin, but he was doing it now and I wanted to hurt him.

"I think you need to leave. Now," I said.

"I'm just trying to give you some things to think about," he said. "What if news about something like that got back to the owner?"

"Is that supposed to be a threat or something?"

Again he did the whole routine holding up his hands and looking like he was completely innocent, but the implied threat was more than enough.

Not that I gave a damn about any threat he might want to make. After all, I was falling head over heels for Jasmine. There was never any question that I would abandon her because of some asshole at work threatening me.

No, it was one of those superpowers of being gay. Not giving a fuck what anyone thought about your love life. At least that's how I’d learned to adapt to growing up in an environment where people looked down on me for who I decided to date.

Next to that the idea of someone looking down on me and for dating a stripper was nothing.

"You can go and do what you want," I said, my voice suddenly quiet. "But if I ever hear of you breathing a word of this to anyone at this office like it's a bad thing I can promise you I'm going to personally make sure you're never able to have children. I'll be doing the world a favor."

"Hey you…"

I talked right over him. I wasn't interested in hearing anything the asshole had to say.

"Then again as long as we’re talking about love lives maybe I shouldn’t worry about you reproducing. You’d have to convince a girl to go on a second date for that to happen, right?"

His frown deepened. “Fuck you too!"

He turned and stomped off. I was sure he was probably going to start spreading rumors as soon as he could. The guy was more of a yenta than most of the women in this place.

"Well that went well," Dan said.

"Yeah," I replied. "No thanks to you knights in shining armor coming to my defense."

"Hey. When it comes to you and Jason getting into it with each other it's a good idea to stay the fuck away."

I rolled my eyes. "You guys really need to grow a pair. He's going to get promoted someday if you don't stand up to him and then what are you going to do?"

"He's never getting promoted," Dan said.

“Says you," I replied.

"Did you ever think there was something to what he said?" Stephen asked.

"I'm going to go ahead and pretend I didn't hear that," I said.

"Right," Stephen said. "Forget I said it."

"Besides," I continued. "Can you imagine Mr. Anderson ever saying something to me? He doesn't give a fuck what anyone does in their personal life, and Jason sure shouldn't give a fuck about what anyone does in their personal life."

"She's got a point Stephen," Dan said. "We really should complain about him. Heck you should complain to HR about this Taylor.”

"I don't want to cause any trouble," I said. "I just want him to leave me alone."

"And getting on him for harassing you about who you date sounds like just the way to do that," Dan said. "Anyways, we have to get back to work. Think about it though."

I did think about it. I thought about it as I went through our ticketing system. I was so frustrated after the argument with Jason that I didn't feel up to getting on the phones and talking with our often frustrating clients. My good mood was torpedoed, and I knew if I started talking to a difficult client I’d probably say something that really could end up causing trouble and maybe getting me fired.

I managed to not pay attention to about four different tickets before I realized I actually did need to do something about Jason this time around. It had been awhile since I'd gone to HR, but she’d always been pretty good about having my back.

Even if Gwen didn’t do something this time around, at least I’d have it on the record that he was up to his shenanigans. That was something.

So I logged out of the system. Sighed and looked across the way to the HR office. It wasn't even much of an HR office. Just Gwen who mostly took care of the paychecks, but I'd seen her come down on people causing trouble in the office like a ton of bricks.

I walked over and Gwen smiled as she saw me at the door.

"Taylor!" she said in her sweet old lady voice. "How can I help you today? Is something wrong?"

"Maybe," I said. "Then again maybe not. You see it's about Jason…"

Her eyes narrowed at the mention of Jason. She sighed and rolled her eyes in a look that was decidedly at odds with the sweet old grandma vibe she gave off. She went from sweet old lady to HR hawk in an instant, and that made me think this wasn't the first time she'd had this sort of trouble recently.

"What did that asshole do this time?" she asked, then put a hand over her mouth as she realized, too late, exactly what she'd said.

I couldn't help but smile. Both because of how ridiculous it was to see this sweet old lady swearing and because now I knew she’d probably be on my side if they'd been having trouble.

Ten minutes later I emerged from Gwen’s office feeling a heck of a lot better than I did before I went in there. Dan had been absolutely right, as much as it galled me to admit when he was right. I needed to talk to HR.

She hadn't offered anything dramatic like an immediate move to discipline him or fire him or anything, but she did let me know she'd been getting complaints about his behavior and this latest incident would be added to his file to be addressed if it continued to be an issue.

Basically he needed to be on his best behavior moving forward if he wanted to avoid any kind of trouble. I could live with that.

By the time I got back to my desk everything was sunshine and rainbows again. I pulled up a picture of me and Jasmine I'd taken on my phone over the weekend. And I blushed as I thought of some of the things we'd done just an hour before we took that picture.

I hadn’t known it could feel like that with someone else, but now that it had happened with her I wanted more of it.

Yeah, I was falling for this girl and I was willing to do a lot to make sure everything continued to go well. And if that meant getting into someone's face at work because he was being an asshole? Well that was part of the price of admission.

I forced myself to lock my phone. Put it on my desk.

I could spend the entire workday staring at that picture of the two of us smiling into my phone, and I needed to avoid that. There actually was work to be done, after all.

So reluctantly I hopped back into the queue and got ready for the remainder of a fun day dealing with people who should know better by now, but all of that was made better by the knowledge that soon enough the night would come, and with that came the possibility that Jasmine would give me a call and see if I wanted to hang out.

14

Jasmine

"Well hello there," Tiffany said as I sat down in front of the mirror.

I shot her a warning glance. "Now's not the time Tiffany."

"What are you talking about?" she asked. "Why should I be making a big deal out of anything?"

"Tiffany…"

"You've just been out late almost every night this week, and a couple of days ago you didn't come home at all…"

A couple of girls looked up and grinned. By now the rumor of how I’d gone off with a girl for a private dance all by my lonesome had gotten around.

I guess that was news around these here parts. Especially since the only time I ever went back for a private dance was usually when one of those previously mentioned couples wasn't coming through looking for their walk on the wild side.

Going back with a girl all alone was new. Out of the ordinary. Completely out of character for me.

I blushed thinking about some of the things we'd done back there. I blushed thinking about some of the things we'd done at Taylor's apartment.

I wasn't ashamed of any of those things, mind you, but they still brought a blush to my face. It also sent a shiver running through me.

"I don't see what the big deal is," I whispered.

"No big deal," Tiffany said. "I was just wondering where my best friend disappeared to."

I rolled my eyes and put down the makeup I was having absolutely no luck putting on because she kept distracting me.

"Come on Tiffany," I said. "What about that time you disappeared for a week with no contact and it turned out you were busy banging a client?"

Tiffany sniffed. "That's different. He offered to take me to Hawaii. I'd like to see you pass that up. Besides, he was cute."

“I’d go off to Hawaii with a cute client," Carrie said.

"Me too!" another piped up.

"Well this is different," I said. "This is…"

"This is what?" a voice said from the entrance.

I closed my eyes and forced a couple of deep breaths. My pulse was racing and it wasn't racing in the good way that it did whenever I saw Taylor. No, this was the kind of racing that was caused purely by stress. The stress of hearing that voice.

"Fuck off Tara," I said.

"Oh," she said, sounding injured.

I didn't turn around, but I could picture the look on her face. As though I'd done her grievous harm by telling her to fuck off even when most girls in the room were probably thinking the same damn thing.

"You hurt my feelings!" she said.

"You don't have feelings to hurt," I said. “No, scratch that. I guess anger and jealousy are feelings."

"Last I checked they were," Tara said. "Though I don't know why you think I’d be jealous of you. God it must suck going through life knowing you're a freak."

That was it. That did it. I knew she was trying to bait me, but I didn't care. I stood and whirled around to face her. A fire flashed in my eyes.

"You take that back now you bitch," I hissed.

Tara's eyes went wide. She was doing that thing that I hated. That thing where she pushed someone over the edge then acted like the person she pushed over the edge was the jerk even though she was the one who provoked it. I knew what she was doing but I didn't care.

I calmed myself by imagining her head getting bashed against one of the mirrors. Preferably with my hand gripping her hair and doing some of the shoving.

"Calm down!" she said. "God. I say one thing and you’re raging around here like a bulldyke in a China shop."

"Tara," I said, my voice quiet but threatening.

Usually that quiet threat was enough to get her to back down. She had to know I wasn’t afraid to throw down in the name of defending my honor. I’d dealt with plenty of bullies over the years who thought they could get one over on me because of who I chose to love, and I sure as hell wasn't going to put up with it from her.

Yet at the same time I felt my cheeks burning. I felt some of the old shame I felt back when I was dealing with those bullies when I was younger. Back before I didn't have the ability to cope that I had now.

I hated that Tara was able to make me feel ashamed of who I was, even if it was all on her. Even if she was the one being a raging bitch.

"Say one more thing Tara,” I said.

The other girls had formed a semicircle behind me. Though I wasn't sure if they'd formed that semicircle because they wanted to stand behind me, or because they wanted a good view of the brewing fight and none of them wanted to risk stepping around me for a better view.

"Are you threatening me?" she asked.

"I'm not threatening you," I replied. "I'm promising you. Say one more thing and this isn't going to end well for you."

Tara held my gaze for a long moment. Long enough that I thought she might actually go through with it. Sure in the past she'd always backed down when it came down to it, but there had to be a time when she got pushed to the edge.

Heck, she'd certainly pushed me to the edge. I wanted to launch myself at her even though I'd given her a warning and told her to back down. I wanted to dig my hands into her hair and rip it out. Punch her and give her a black eye so she wouldn't be able to go out on stage and make any money.

But I held back, because that's what civilized people did. I wasn't going to stoop to her level if I didn't have to. Not that I was against stooping to her level, I just wanted to avoid it if at all possible.

Especially considering an assault charge was the last thing I needed.

"Fine," she said. "If you want to freak out and be a bitch then you can freak out. I don't want to get in a fight with a crazy."

"I'll show you crazy if you keep this up," I said, balling my hand into a fist. But I didn’t make a move for her. If she was going to back down then I wasn't going to try and get into a fight.

"God, can you believe what a bitch she is?" Tara asked as she made her way across the room to her mirror. "I was joking around with her and she goes crazy."

She tried to sound light and breezy, but from of the way everyone else in the room stopped and stared at her it wasn't working. No, at least I could be happy that everybody else in the room was on my side. Even if I hadn't quite had the satisfactory ending to this little argument that I was hoping for.

"God you're all such bitches,” Tara said when she realized she wasn't going to get any support from anyone else in the room. "I don't know why I still come around here. I have to worry about getting checked out in the changing room and I also have to worry about all of you liking it. You're all a bunch of lesbians."

I wheeled around. I couldn't help it. If she couldn't keep her mouth shut then I was going to challenge her on her bullshit.

"Did somebody do something to you?" I asked.

Tara turned and glared. "What are you talking about?"

"You have this irrational hatred of lesbians. I'm wondering who hurt you. What the hell is going on here?"

Tara rolled her eyes. "That's none of your damn business. I've had a problem with you people checking me out and I don't want any more of it."

"I don't care what's happened to you in the past," I said. “You need to treat me with respect now, and if you can't then maybe you should think about going somewhere else."

Tara threw her head back and laughed. “What the fuck are you going to do about it? As long as I keep making money they're not firing my ass!"

I looked down. She was probably right. I hated that she was probably right.

Not to mention that if the rumors were to be believed there were some fringe benefits she gave the owner that I wasn't willing to provide. That I wouldn't provide even if I was into guys.

"Go fuck yourself Tara," I said.

"I'd rather fuck myself than you," she said. "And you'd better be careful yourself. Don't bring that bitch around here if you know what's good for you."

I opened my mouth to say something in response and then closed it. I didn't need trouble like this right now. I didn't need someone calling me in for assault charges. I didn't need to get fired from my job because she goaded me into starting a fight.

And so I did something that I absolutely hated. I went back over to my mirror and sat down. Started getting ready for my next dance. I wasn't going to do anything productive by continuing a fight with Tara.

It reminded me of an old saying. Wrestle with a pig and the pig has all the fun while you get covered in mud. Never had that felt more appropriate than arguing with Tara. So I ignored her.

Even when she laughed and said "that's what I thought."

"You really need to shut the fuck up Tara," Tiffany said.

"Yeah," another girl said. “You need to watch yourself."

Other girls chimed in and I looked up in surprise. I suddenly felt a little better. It was nice to know they had my back.

Tara looked around and she seemed to sense that the mood in the room was turning against her. The mood in the room had never really been in her favor, but now it was really looking bad for her.

Her eyes went wide, and finally she let out a disgusted noise and stood.

"Fine," she spat. "If you're all going to be bitches then I'm going to go out there where somebody appreciates me."

"They only appreciate you as long as you're willing to give it up," Tiffany said. “Don't think I don't know what you did with that ‘private dance’ last week."

I shook my head. Was there something going on there that I didn't know about? That was a dangerous accusation to throw around. There were a lot of things the owner put up with, but accepting money for sex acts was one quick way to get fired on the spot. A girl could get in even deeper trouble if the cops came along.

If Tara really was doing something like that then it could be bad for her and for everyone else. The authorities could come in and shut the place down.

Though unemployment might almost be worth it to see her getting in trouble.

"What's that Tara? Taking a little money for sex? Can't get a guy to give it to you for free?"

She wheeled around and her eyes went wide as she realized what I was saying. The old switcheroo. I stuck my tongue out and flipped her the bird as she stepped out of the room in a huff.

Was it childish? Maybe, but it felt good so I wasn't going to feel too bad. I turned to Tiffany.

"Are you serious about that? Was she really fucking someone for money?"

Tiffany shrugged. "Seems like the sort of thing she’d do, and the way she reacted makes me think she might’ve actually done it.”

I looked past her. To the door Tara had just vacated pretty damn quick. Maybe there really was something there, though I couldn't for the life of me figure out what I was supposed to do with that information.

Still, it was good to keep in mind. Every weapon I had against her was something I might be able to use someday.

But that day wasn’t today. I resumed putting my makeup on, and I couldn't stop thinking about that threat she'd made. That she might do something to Taylor if she ever came around here again.

I didn't know what that something was, but I knew I didn't want to drag Taylor into the middle of this. No, not and risk ruining the good thing I had going with her.

I comforted myself with the knowledge that it's not like she’d be coming out here again. Not when the first time she came out was with a group of guys who were here for a bachelor party.

No, we didn't get many women coming through here. It had been a fluke that brought Taylor here, though I was certainly glad that fluke brought her into my arms.

Yeah, I figured I didn't have much to worry about on that count.

15

Taylor

"Are you sure about this?"

I wasn't sure about it. I kept thinking about the conversation I had with the guys, with Jason in particular, a couple of weeks back. Where he couldn't seem to get over who I was dating. Where even the other guys acted a little weird about the fact that I was dating a stripper.

Yeah, thinking about that made me wonder if this was really a good idea. If I really should be bringing Jasmine to a work party of all things.

And yet I was taking her to the party. Supposedly it was because we had a good quarter, but it was also an unofficial party thrown by the owner to celebrate Stephen's impending marriage. He’d be there with his blushing bride who was a cutie. Not that I thought about that too often considering he was a colleague and she was very straight.

I forced myself to turn to Jasmine. To smile. She seemed to take that smile for reassurance as the elevator continued up to the office.

The things were slow in this building. The office was only on the fifth floor, and yet I could have been to the top of the Sears Tower observation deck by now in the time it took to go up those five floors.

"It's going to be fine," I lied. "If you're going to date me you have to meet my friends and coworkers, right?"

Jasmine let out a quiet laugh that didn't hold much amusement. "You mean the coworkers I don't already know?"

"Exactly!" I said. "I guess you have met most of the guys already, but you haven't gotten a chance to really talk with them."

Of course I conveniently left out the fact that she didn't get a chance to talk with the guys because she'd been busy dancing up on stage when she saw them the first time around. We'd settled into a routine where we didn't really talk about her work all that often. It was enough to make me wonder if she was ashamed of it or something.

Well I wasn't going to be ashamed of it. And Jason could go fuck himself if he thought I was going to get bent out of shape because he didn't approve of who I dated.

He wouldn't be the first or the last person who didn't approve of who I dated. When that list includes people who were supposed to love you unconditionally like your parents then dealing with some asshole from the office didn't feel like such a big deal.

"You know I haven't been back to your work since that night," I said.

The words hung out there between us. It stretched into an awkward silence like it always did when I brought up her work.

Heck, I'm not sure why I decided to bring up her work. It was like I was picking at a scab or something. I couldn't resist even though I knew it was a bad idea.

"Yeah," she said, again with one of those humorless laughs. "How about that?"

How about that indeed. I got the same feeling I got every time we started talking about her work. The feeling that she was putting me off. That she was keeping something from me.

Maybe it was shame, or maybe it was something else. It was enough to make me want to go back to that club and see what the heck was going on.

A part of me couldn't help but wonder if she was cheating on me or something. I knew that was a ridiculous notion, but she was so private about that side of her life. And that was a side of her life that was a pretty big deal. She took her clothes off and had to get up close and personal with people.

I knew I shouldn’t hold that against her, yet here we were.

It was funny. It was that same jealousy I felt that first night whenever I saw her getting close with people up on stage, only now it was made all the more intense thanks to all the time we'd spent together.

Thankfully the elevator finally slid open with a loud screech that couldn't mean anything good. There were times when I almost wanted to take the stairs because they seemed safer.

Jasmine let out a small sigh. As though she was relieved the doors were opening. Which made me wonder why she would be relieved to be away from that conversation.

Not that I got much time to think about the reason why she might be relieved. No, not when I was immediately greeted by a familiar voice.

"Taylor!"

I stepped off the elevator and Stephen was there in the lobby. He had his future wife with him, and once again I couldn't help but notice how incredibly hot she was.

Admittedly I wasn't exactly a fan of the male form, but looking at her made it pretty obvious that somehow this geeky but lovable goof had found some way to convince this woman who should have been way out of his league that he was marriage material.

Then again maybe it was that geeky but lovable vibe he gave off that attracted her in the first place. Different strokes for different folks and all that. Maybe she preferred lovable and funny to ripped and hot.

"It's so good to see you Stephen," I said. "And how are you doing tonight Carrie?"

“Just fine Taylor!" she said, reaching out and pulling me into a hug that was unexpected but also kind of nice. Then she pushed me away and she had a glowing smile on her face that was easily the match of any goofy grin Stephen could fix me with.

"And is this the new girl I've heard so much about?" she asked.

"None other than!" I said.

"It's so nice to meet you," she said.

She reached out and offered a hand for Jasmine into a shaker. I was a little relieved she didn't go in for the hug. They hardly knew each other, after all, and she could be a little touchy-feely. Which was just fine with me, but I wasn't sure how Jasmine would react to that.

"All good things I hope," Jasmine said, some tension coming to her voice.

Another one of those awkward moments settled between us. I have no doubt Jasmine was thinking about her profession again. Damn. She seemed to be carrying a chip on her shoulder about about for some reason. That chip hadn't been there when we first started hanging out, but it had gotten worse and worse right along with her becoming more and more reluctant to talk about her job.

It was enough to make me wonder what the hell was going on there, but I hadn't pried too deeply because I didn't want to irritate her. Things had been going so well otherwise.

“Of course,” Carrie said, either not picking up on the tension or ignoring it.

"So are you ready for the party?" Stephen asked.

"You know it!" I said to pierce that awkward silence. The last thing I wanted was for Jasmine to make things really weird between me and my coworker.

Stephen made a sweeping gesture towards the door and I went and opened, letting everyone go in before me. Jasmine paused for a moment at the entrance, looking around at the boring sight of a bunch of coworkers hanging out at your average run-of-the-mill office party, then she took a deep breath, let it out, and plastered a smile on her face.

Though I didn't miss how she took a moment to plaster that smile on her face. Yeah, something was going on here and I would've really liked to know what the hell it was. But I kept my mouth shut.

I was especially interested in keeping the peace tonight, after all. I didn't want to have a blow up in front of a bunch of my coworkers.

"I'm going to go get something to drink,” I said. "Do you want something Jasmine?"

"I'm fine," she said, still looking around the room. She had a strange look in her eyes. As though she felt hunted or something. Weird. What was with her tonight?

"I think I'll join you," Stephen said. "Will you be okay here for a few baby?"

"Sure thing," Carrie said. “I’ll let Jasmine in on all the juicy office gossip I'm not supposed to know."

I tried to laugh but couldn’t quite work up the nerve. Instead I turned and went for a small minibar set up on a folding table at one end of the main lobby.

"So what's going on with your girlfriend tonight?" Stephen asked as soon as we were out of earshot.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said.

"Come on," he said. "You don't take me for an idiot, do you?"

"Well no," I said. "I take you for a pretty smart guy. Why?"

"Something's bothering that girl," he said. "I might not be the greatest with women, but even I can tell that.”

“Not good with women? Says the man who’s about to get married to one of the hottest girls at the party tonight!" I said.

Stephen stared across the room and got a stupid look on his face. A look I recognized as that of a man who knew he needed to get down on his knees every night and thank whatever God he believed in that he'd gotten with a girl as gorgeous as her.

"Yeah, that might be the case, but still…"

I sighed. "I don't know what's going on. It's like she's pulling away from me or something. It's like…"

I stopped. I really didn't know what it was like. After all, things had been going so well, and they were still going well enough. As long as we avoided the subject of where she worked.

“Let's get a drink and hope that maybe makes things a little better," Stephen said. "Carrie wasn't exactly the greatest at the first couple of parties I took her to after all."

"You got that right," I said, remembering the frosty reception she'd given everyone. It turned out she was just shy around people she didn’t know all that well. But there'd been a few gatherings where everybody thought she was a raging bitch until we got everything sorted.

I turned around and Carrie was there in the crowd looking around, but Jasmine was nowhere to be found. I frowned, and a sixth sense starting to tingle in the back of my mind. Something was wrong.

I'm not sure how I knew something was wrong, it was just an instinctive feeling that came over me. I scanned through the crowd of office workers, people I was familiar with and people who worked in other departments I was less familiar with, looking for Jasmine and not finding her. Getting more and more worried with every passing moment I couldn't find her.

It was weird. I worked in tech support, after all. It's not like I was in a job where I needed a sixth sense about something bad happening, unless you counted looking at a particular phone number and realizing it was a customer who was going to give me a really bad time, but that sense was tingling in overdrive right about now.

I tried to calm myself. After all, it was probably just that she’d gone to the bathroom or something. Yeah, that had to be it. The only problem was there was a key attached to a wood block to get into the bathroom, and when I went over to the reception desk it was still there.

Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that I’d find her out there, and so I went back through the front entrance and turned left to go towards the bathrooms. I told myself she must’ve gone down there and gotten lost, or maybe she didn't realize there was a key or something.

Yet there was still that bad feeling, and it only got worse and worse as I got down the hall and heard a familiar voice. Jason. My eyes narrowed. It sounded like he was hitting on someone.

I almost stopped right there. I almost let him have his privacy. After all, if he'd gotten some poor girl back there that was her problem. Everyone in the office knew what sort of trouble he could cause.

Then an unpleasant thought struck me. What if he got a girl back there to a quiet spot by the bathrooms because she didn't know to stay away from him? What if that was my girl over there?

And so it was with a steadily growing feeling of dread that I poked my head around the corner and all of my suspicions were confirmed.

Every impulse in my body screamed at me to get out there and do something about this. To let Jason know this was not appropriate behavior at work or otherwise.

And yet…

Everything about how Jasmine had been acting lately was weighing heavily on my mind. I couldn't help but feel some of that jealousy that flared up inside me when I thought about her at work. The jealousy that left me wondering if maybe there was a small part of her that was into guys, or maybe she into her clients.

And it occurred to me that this would be a good opportunity to see if that was the case. To see if she’d accept advances from someone.

After all, it's not like she’d be the first girl I’d dated who was bisexual rather than swinging completely in one direction. And she had allowed herself to be pulled away from the main party. What if she was more interested in him than she let on?

So as much as I hated to do it, I paused on the other side of the corner and waited. Listened in on their conversation wondering what I was going to hear and whether or not I was going to like it.

"Come on," Jason said. "You do that kind of thing for work, so why wouldn’t you do it here?"

His hands moved up to her in an entirely too familiar gesture. A gesture that had my hands forming claws as I imagined what it would feel like to claw his eyes out, but I held my peace. I wanted to see how she’d respond.

After all, this was giving me a glimpse into her work life that I hadn't seen before. Especially considering her refusal to talk about it.

"I told you I'm not like that," she said. "I dance, but that doesn't mean I do what you're hinting at.”

He reached out and took her arm. This time he didn't seem to be taking no for an answer when she tried to pull away.

"Come on," he said, his voice suddenly hard. "I think we both know what kind of work you really do at that place. You might've pulled the wool over Taylor's eyes, but I know what you girls are like. You're all the same."

"And I'm not like that," she said. "You can go fuck yourself if you think that’s how I am."

She tried to pull away again and he continued holding tight to her arm. I'd heard enough. I felt guilty about ever thinking she was being unfaithful. That it could be the reason for all the weirdness lately.

No, that had answered my questions and then some. It was time to reveal myself. Time to let Jason know exactly how unwanted his advances were.

So I took a deep breath, held it for a moment, and rounded the corner with probably the single most pissed off look I'd ever had in my life.

16

Jasmine

I couldn't have been more relieved when Taylor came around the corner with murder in her eyes. And I didn't doubt for a moment that she would murder this guy. So much so that I actually took an unconscious step in between them just to make sure she didn't do something we’d both regret.

Though it seemed like taking that step in between her and this asshole was the last thing I should have done. The look she gave me was heartbreaking. It was a look that went straight down to of the pit of my stomach, and we’re not talking the kind of feeling in the pit of my stomach that made me feel good like looks from Taylor usually did.

No, there was something else there. Suspicion. It was an ugly look. Unpleasant. Not at all what I’d come to expect from her.

I couldn't believe I'd even allowed myself to get dragged out here in the first place. I recognized the guy from that night. A couple of girls had pointed him out and said he was getting a little too handsy, but I didn't think that would extend to how he acted at a work party of all things.

Turns out I should have listened to my Spidey sense when it started tingling, because sure enough he got me out here alone and started acting like I was no better than a hooker.

I might work in the adult industry, but that didn't mean I was willing to sell myself. No, I still had my respect thank you very much, and assholes like this who treated me like I was fair game because I took my clothes off for money were exactly the kind of prick that I tried my best to avoid in the club.

It was one reason why I was always so reluctant to go out on the floor unless there was a girl out there who caught my eye.

"What the hell do you think you're doing Jason?" Taylor asked.

Immediately his hand pulled free from my arm. He held both up in a defensive gesture and I got the feeling this wasn’t the first time he’d found himself on the wrong end of Taylor’s anger.

"Hey Taylor," he said. “Nothing going on here. I was just having a nice chat with your friend here. Telling her about a business proposition."

"Yeah," she snapped. "I think I know exactly what kind of business proposition you're talking about, and I don't like it!"

The guy's eyes narrowed. "Like it or not, that's what she does and you're going to have to get used to this sort of thing if you're going to date this kind of girl!"

I stared at him in disbelief. One minute he was trying to get me out here under false pretenses and the next he was trying to hit on me and negotiate a night with me as though I had a price, and now that he wasn't getting what he wanted and someone was yelling at him he was acting like I was somehow subhuman? This guy was a real piece of work. I wondered how he’d managed to hold onto his job for so fucking long.

"It looked to me like you were hurting her," Taylor said, not allowing herself to be dragged into whatever argument he was trying to start. "Step away from her."

"Or what?" The guy asked.

"Or you're going to regret the day you ever decided to fuck with my girlfriend at a work party,” Taylor said.

I glanced down. Her fists were moving into balls at her sides. She still had murder in her eyes, and again I worried that she might do something rash. That she might do something that would get her in trouble both with her work and maybe even with the cops.

Not a pleasant thought.

"Taylor listen," I said. "We don't have to do this. You don't have to do this."

"Yeah I do," she said. "He's been insulting you at work, and this is the last straw. People can't do this to people I'm dating."

I felt a blush rising to my cheeks, but it had nothing to do it with the current situation. Okay, maybe it had a little bit to do with the current situation, but in a bank shot sort of way.

I was ashamed, plain and simple. Here she was willing to defend me in front of this asshole and I hadn't been willing to do the same for her when Tara was on the warpath at my work. Sure she was never there to see the abuse and threats Tara hurled at me, but still.

I hated it. More than that I hated that I wasn't doing anything about it.

It was like Tara coming after me was sending me back to the bad old days in middle school or high school when even a whiff of someone being different in my small town was enough to make you a social outcast. When I'd been so terrified of losing my social status that I’d said and done some pretty nasty things.

Yeah, it was bringing back my mean girl past in a major way and it made me not want to resort to that again, even if Tara did deserve it. I wasn’t that person anymore, no matter how deserving my target might be.

Jason looked down at Taylor's fist. Looked back up at her and scoffed.

"I'd like to see you try," he said.

"Then try me," Taylor said.

I recognized all the signs. Taylor was royally pissed off. She was breathing hard. I knew something was about to happen, I wanted to stop it, but I didn’t know what I could do about it.

Finally the guy sighed and shook his head. "This isn't worth it."

"You bet your ass it's not worth it," Taylor said. "And you can bet your ass I'm going to have a conversation with Gwen about this too!"

The two of them might as well be speaking a foreign language for all I understood what was going on. I had no idea who Gwen was or why this guy should be so worried, but worried he seemed to be. He turned back to Taylor, his mouth working as his eyes went wide. It looked like he was about to say something, but instead he whirled around and headed back to the party.

A moment later I heard the distinct sound of music drifting out of the office as he opened the door and stepped inside to get away from us.

I let out a relieved sigh and leaned against the wall. Closed my eyes and concentrated on my own breathing for a long couple of moments.

That had been intense. Intense and dangerous. It was worse than the worst experiences I’d had with guys who got a little too entitled and handsy at work.

"What were you doing out here with him?" Taylor asked.

I looked up at her, and I was surprised. There was something nasty about her tone. Something I didn't care for.

And I saw it there on her face again. The jealousy. That ugly look that had been there for the briefest of moments earlier. It was back.

"Do you really think I came out here with that jerk on my own?" I asked.

"I don't know what you did," Taylor said, her voice cool. "All I know is you're out here with the office asshole getting up close and personal."

My mouth fell open. I couldn't believe she was doing this. I couldn't believe she was actually acting like I wanted to do that with that guy.

"For your information," I said. "That asshole told me he had something important to tell me about you. Something about your career. Only when we got out here he suddenly started trying to put his hands all over me and it was all I could do to fend him off.”

I stared at Taylor for a long moment. Wondered how she would take that. If she would accept that. Or if she would continue to act crazy and jealous.

Finally her face broke into something that was almost a smile. She shrugged and held out a hand. A hand that I regarded as though it was a live snake.

I wasn't sure what to think of her now. She was like two different people and she couldn’t decide which one she wanted to be. It was like that jealous part of her was always lurking just beneath the surface.

I wasn't sure that I liked that jealous part of her lurking just beneath the surface. Not at all.

"I suppose that's okay," she said.

I looked down at her hand again and I couldn't help but sneer. That’s really how she was going to be? Well fuck that!

"You suppose that's okay?" I asked. "Like I need your permission to go out and do something?"

"Hey now," Taylor said. "You don't have to act crazy about this. I just thought…"

And suddenly exactly what she "just thought" hit me. She thought I was actually capable of coming out here and doing something with a guy because he was willing to pay.

I was willing to admit that I had a massive chip on my shoulder when it came to this sort of thing, but it was only finding that chip to be justified over and over that made me still think like that. And I couldn't believe that Taylor of all people would think I was actually capable of something like that.

"How could you?" I asked.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"You thought I would actually do something with that guy? I don't know if you've been paying attention to what we've been doing for the past few weeks, but it's not like I'm exactly into people with his equipment!"

I was starting to get louder. Luckily there weren't any people around to watch me making a scene, but that was cold comfort. The fact remained that she'd actually thought I was capable of something like that which made me feel like making a scene.

"I'm sorry Jasmine," she said. "It's just that…"

She cut herself off, but it was too late. She'd already been on the verge of saying what she was going to say.

I forced myself to try and keep things under control. The last thing I wanted was to burst into tears in front of her. Not right now. Not like this. It was hard, but not like this.

"What did you think Taylor?" I asked, my voice dangerously quiet. At least I thought it was dangerously quiet, but Taylor didn't seem to be picking up on it.

"It's just that you've been acting so weird lately. Things were so great in the beginning, but you've been standoffish, especially when it comes to talking about your work and…"

I felt like I'd been slapped. Both because she was acting suspicious about my job and because I really had been acting weird about it. Dealing with Tara led to me not wanting to talk about work at all. It's not like I talked about it all that much to begin with, but I really didn't want to talk about it now.

So maybe I had gotten standoffish. To the point that every time Taylor brought it up I just wanted her to shut up already. Maybe I had been a little short with her, but that didn't mean that she could jump to some of the conclusions she'd obviously jumped to.

"Look. I've been having a tough time at work lately. That's all," I said. "And it doesn't make things any easier that you're here thinking I'm…"

I wasn't sure what to say. I didn’t want to put what she thought into words. It was too disgusting. I wasn't sure how to handle this.

"Forget I even brought it up," she said.

"Yeah, maybe I will," I said.

Though I knew even as I said it that it was going to be difficult to forget what she'd said. Her words hurt. They cut me deep. They went to the core of an insecurity I had about my line of work. An insecurity that she'd just ripped open in a big way, just as Tara had done in the same to me at work.

"You know if there's something bothering you that you can talk to me about it, right?" she asked, her voice suddenly quiet.

I tried to force a smile, but it was hard. The damage was already done.

"I know," I said, not really meaning it.

"I'm serious," she said.

"I know you are," I replied. "But I'm not in the mood to talk about that right now. Can we talk about something else please?”

Taylor looked down and a long and awkward moment stretched out between us. I hated it when stuff like this happened. It hadn't happened in a few weeks now, since we’d gotten over the first date jitters, and now it was the long awkward silence of an argument instead of the awkward silence of getting to know someone.

I didn't like it. Not at all.

"Why don't we go back to the party for now," I said. "We can worry about all this other stuff later. I know people are going to start wondering if you don't come back soon. They might think you snuck off to…"

I stopped. I couldn't bring myself to finish that thought. Not when it came so close to what she'd been on the verge of accusing me of doing with that guy.

Though after seeing her reaction to seeing me with a guy I had to wonder how long Taylor and I were going to last. Things had been going well, but it looked like that might be changing.

I hated that it was changing. I thought something was finally going right in my life, and now here it was completely fucked up and falling apart around me.

But I did what I always did when things weren’t going well. I plastered a smile on my face. The same smile I used whenever I was going out on stage. And I was on stage here as much as I was on stage when I was at work.

After all, there was an audience here who expected something out of me. Sure they didn't expect me to take my clothes off. At least none of them but that Jason asshole expected me to take my clothes off. But they did expect me to be the good girlfriend for Taylor, and I would do that much for her.

Even if I wasn't sure I’d be doing much of anything for her for much longer. Not with what happened tonight. Not with that distrust and jealousy I'd seen so plain on her face.

Jealousy killed relationships for girls in my profession. I'd seen it happen time and again with guys who couldn't stand the idea of other guys staring at their woman while she was dancing up on stage. Sure maybe I'd given Taylor a couple of good reasons to be jealous, but that didn't justify what she’d done tonight. It sure didn’t justify some of the things she'd said.

Yeah, things had gone from going okay to suddenly been on very thin ice, and I didn't like it. But I kept that perfect smile on my face and prepared to play my role for the night, because that's what I was supposed to do.

It's what I was good at, even if I hated it.

17

Taylor

I pulled up to the Lacy Garter and, not for the first time, wondered what the hell I was doing out here. I'd circled the block a couple of times like some sort of creepy stalker.

Like I didn't have a good reason to be here.

Damn it. What in the hell was wrong with me? Why was I acting like I had no business being here?

Probably because there was a little voice in the back of my head whispering that I had no business being here. I usually ignored that voice, I’d learned to tell it to go fuck itself ever since the days in middle school when it tried to tell me how wrong I was for liking girls, but it was screaming at me now and I couldn't help but wonder if there was something to it tonight.

"Damn it," I said as I pulled into a parking spot and put the car into park.

I looked around the parking lot to see if there was anyone I recognized. Though of course that was a ridiculous thought. There was only one person I knew at this place, and the reason there was only one person I knew here was because the one person I knew seemed to have a problem with me coming out here and seeing her at work.

I knew that more than anything was why I was out here. I knew I was being paranoid. I knew going in there was a mistake, and yet at the same time I knew deep in my heart that it was a mistake I was about to make.

I couldn't stop thinking about that almost argument we had at my work party. It had been a couple of days ago, but things hadn't been the same between us since. Jasmine had been short with me ever since I called her out, and that left me wondering if there was something going on after all.

I hated that I was being paranoid like this, but I couldn't help it. After all, I knew what she did at her job. To be honest there was a part of me that worried there might be a part of her that was only being nice to me because that’s what she did at work and she couldn’t turn it off.

What if everything we had was a lie? I had to know.

Again I knew that was ridiculous, but again it was difficult to get that voice to shut the fuck up.

I took a couple of deep breaths. My grip was white knuckled on the steering wheel. As I sat there a couple of guys walked in. Of course I didn't recognize them from my one visit to this place, but they looked about the same as just about every other guy I imagined going here.

I held my breath and willed my hand to go down into the keys. It wasn't too late. I could turn the car on and get the hell out of here. I could wait for Jasmine to give me a call.

Or maybe she wouldn't give me a call tonight. Maybe she’d be out with a client.

Damn it. Why couldn't I get those thoughts out of my mind after everything I'd seen? It was driving me wild and I hated it.

"You know you have to do this Taylor," I said to myself. Though it sounded like I was trying a little too hard to convince myself.

I was out of the car and walking towards the strip club before I really realized what was going on. Although I knew what I was doing the entire time. I hated it, but I knew what I was doing. I knew Jasmine wasn't going to be happy to see me there.

Although then again, it was precisely the fact that Jasmine wouldn’t be happy to see me that made me put one foot in front of the other. That compelled me to step into the place and see what was going on for myself.

I was hit with the familiar sights and sounds as I stepped in. Nobody was smoking, but there was still a faint stench of the stuff hanging in the air. As though decades of smoke had seeped into the walls and now there was no getting it out no matter what ordinances the city passed.

I figured nothing short of tearing the place down and putting it back together from scratch would do the trick, and even then that might not quite do the job.

Music washed over me. A steady bass thump pulsed through the place as a dancer up on stage went around the pole to a classic rock song. The sort of thing my dad and mom probably listened to when they were making out as kids.

I shuddered thinking of that. I pushed the thought out of my mind. My brain was trying to come up with something, anything, to distract me from what I was afraid I was going to see here.

The one person I didn't see was Jasmine. Maybe she was backstage. Maybe she was roaming the floor. She told me she didn't like doing that sort of thing, but then again that was exactly the sort of thing someone would lie about if she did do that sort of thing and didn’t want me to know about it.

I stopped. Almost turned around and walked out. I knew I was being irrational. I knew I should have a conversation with Jasmine about all of this and put away some of my fears, but I couldn't stop. I wasn't in control. The jealous monster had taken over and it was calling the shots.

I took a seat in a corner table. It was nice and out-of-the-way, but it also gave me a view of the main stage. It was the perfect place to watch Jasmine and see what she was up to at work without tipping her off that I was here.

As I sat down I ran through everything that happened at the work party. How she'd been led away by Jason. How that asshole acted like she owed him something.

I knew he was the asshole in that situation, but I couldn't help but wonder why she allowed herself to be pulled away in the first place. She could talk all she wanted about how he said he needed to talk to her about something, but I wasn't buying it.

And that more than anything had sat in my brain. Had festered. Had left me wondering what she got up to here. If she was willing to do something like that at a work party where she was with a date then what did she do here at work where she obviously didn’t want me snooping too much into her business?

So I sat in my back table going over all of it. I'd complained to Gwen after the fact, of course, and she said she’d do something about it though I wasn't holding my breath.

But of course that wasn’t enough. And so I was here. Sitting. Stewing. Festering. Knowing a lot of this was crazy but unable to stop myself.

"Okay," the DJ said as the girl up on stage and stepped away. "That was Chastity up on stage, and coming up next is Princess Jasmine!"

My ears perked up. I knew she used her real name here. She told me she hadn't realized until after she'd been doing the job for a little while that it might not be a good idea to use her real name at work.

Though oddly enough she'd discovered that using her real name was a sort of cover in its own way. When she told guys at the club that her name was Jasmine they all assumed she was giving them a fake name and so nobody ever went looking for her under that real name. It was a little irony of the business and one of the few things about her work she'd been willing to discuss with me.

I slipped even further down into the booth. I didn't want her to see me over here. Though as she stepped out on stage and started doing her dance I realized that probably wasn't much of a worry.

No, most of her attention was focused on the guys around the edge of the stage. She barely glanced out beyond, and even if she did it was dark enough over here that I doubted she’d recognize me. Especially when I was doing my best to stay hidden.

She went around the stage a couple of times gathering up money. She didn't seem to be paying attention to any one guy more than the other. Especially relieving was that she didn't seem to be paying attention to any girl either.

I was pretty damn sure after everything that we'd done over the past month that she was well and truly into girls only, but I figured you could never be one hundred percent certain.

Only Jasmine wasn't going out into the crowd to dance with anyone. She wasn't hitting on any women. I saw a couple girls who were obviously there with boyfriends and thought back to what she told me about how she used to get with people who were at the club looking for a walk on the wild side.

Only tonight she looked at them and brushed right past them. Didn't say anything.

The more I watched her, the more I got the sneaking suspicion that I'd been a first-rate ass by coming here. The more I sat here the more I thought about how it would be a hell of a good idea for me to get the hell out of here as quickly as my feet could carry me.

After all, I was fairly certain if Jasmine did find me out here she wasn't going to be too happy.

Yeah, it suddenly felt hot in here, and it had nothing to do with the pretty girls that were out walking around half naked. It had everything to do t with what an idiot I’d been. I couldn't believe I even came here in the first place.

It was funny how quickly a person could go from being absolutely convinced something fishy was going on to being absolutely convinced I'd fucked up royally. And I needed to get out of here before Jasmine saw me.

Not that I was too worried about that. No, if she wasn't coming out here then I could slip out without causing a scene. Without her even realizing I'd ever been here.

So I stood and looked away from the stage. Made a beeline for the front entrance.

That was my big mistake. I should've waited until Jasmine was done up on stage. Until she was safely backstage where there was no chance she’d see me.

She wouldn't have seen me if it wasn't for the sudden commotion I found myself right in the middle of.

"I know you," a voice said.

I turned and stared at the girl who stared back at me in the blinking lights from the stage. She looked almost familiar, and then it hit me exactly who this girl was. It was none other than the girl from that first night. The one who'd been coming into the back area as we were leaving. The one who seemed to have a severe dislike for Jasmine for some reason.

And I suddenly had a very strong feeling that it wasn't a good thing that she stood there scowling at me. Not good at all.

"Excuse me," I said.

I turned away from her and made my way to the front entrance. The only problem with that plan was the girl appeared in front of me.

I looked her up and down again. She was pretty enough. She had a nice body and the mesh outfit she wore didn't leave much to the imagination.

Of course all the hotness was ruined by the scowl on her face. She looked as though she'd just swallowed a piece of sour candy or something. She looked about like I did when I thought about seeing a guy naked. Yuck.

In short, she didn't look happy to see me.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"What are you talking about?" I asked. "Can't anyone come here? Last I checked this was a public club."

"I made it absolutely fucking clear that you're not allowed here," she said. "You should have listened to that warning bitch.”

I blinked a couple of times. Did she just say what I thought she just said? I mean you hear about people getting in fights all the time, but that's something that happens to other people. Not to me. I couldn't believe this was actually happening. She actually just said that.

The nerve.

And, as always when somebody started threatening me, I opened my mouth and said a few things that were probably regrettable. Even if she did deserve them.

"Who the hell do you think you are bitch?” I snapped.

Her eyes went wide and then she smiled. She reached back and balled her hand into a fist. I watched that with a mixture of curiosity and regret.

Okay, so this really was happening. She was actually going to try and punch me. Turns out she was serious.

Her fist moved forward, and thankfully whatever substance she was on tonight was enough to throw her just off-balance enough that the simple expedient of stepping to the side was enough to cause her to stumble forward and fall to the floor.

A few people turned to look at her and a couple of guys laughed, but most of them stared at her ass which was pretty obvious with only a thong to preserve what little modesty she had.

I rolled my eyes. This needed to be over. I needed to be out of here. This crazy bitch had simply given me another reason to get the hell out of Dodge as fast as my feet could carry me.

I needed to be out of here before security got involved. Before something got back to Jasmine. Before she realized I was here and I was the girl in the middle of a fight brewing on the main floor.

The girl popped up. She was surprisingly fast. She was also surprisingly agile for someone wearing a pair of stripper heels that looked like they could be used to impale someone. Her eyes were narrow and she looked pissed off, and there were a couple of spots where her outfit, barely there, was stained with some sort of fluid she’d picked up on her trip to the ground.

The less I thought about what that fluid might be the better.

"You're going to pay for that," she said.

She wiped something off of her chin as though she was bleeding, but as I looked closer in the dim light I saw it was more fluid. Hopefully for her that was just stale beer that had been marinating down there for a while.

"I don't want to fight you you crazy bitch,” I said.

"And you should've thought of that before you ignored my warning," she spat right back at me.

I shook my head. Again with that warning stuff. Again I had no idea what the hell she was going on about. This girl really was crazy.

She lunged forward again, and this time I managed to catch her. I twisted and a moment later she was up on her tiptoes, or at least as high on her tiptoes as she could be when she was already in ridiculously high stripper heels, yelling in pain. I had her arm twisted behind her back, just far enough that it hurt but not far enough to do any damage.

At least I hoped it wasn't far enough to do any damage.

"I think you need to calm the fuck down," I said. "I want to leave without any trouble, and I think you don't want your arm broken, right?"

"You fucking bull dykes are all the same!" the girl shouted. "Get your hands off of me you pervert!"

Was this girl serious? Was she really telling me to get away from her because she thought I was getting something out of this? The girl was Looney Tunes. I had her in this lock so she’d leave me the fuck alone, and she thought I was getting off on it?

"You’re damaged goods lady," I said, but I didn't let her go. I could see a bouncer making his way through the crowded towards us, and I had no intention of letting her get off another shot before security got here. Hell no.

I had no intention of letting her get off another shot before security got here. Hell no.

I never thought I'd be relieved to see a bouncer coming at me in a bar. In my experience it never led to anything good, but I couldn't be happier now.

"I'm so glad you…"

"Is this crazy causing trouble for you Tara?" the bouncer asked.

I blinked a couple of times. What the hell was he talking about? My name wasn't Tara.

And then it dawned on me. He was talking to the girl. Not me. He thought I was the aggressor in this situation, even though anyone standing around would've seen that she threw the first punch.

I looked around to see if I was going to get any support from anyone in the audience, but they were all looking away or looking at Tara and her considerable… assets.

It occurred to me that I was the wrong person in the wrong place at a very wrong time. None of these people were going to stand up for me.

Not when they were frequenting this club. Not when they obviously wanted to stay in the good graces of the girl who was willing to take her clothes off for them.

"This crazy bitch attacked me! And she's trying to feel me up now!" Tara shouted.

If she thought that was going to distract me or get me to loosen my hold then she had another thing coming. I kept my grip on her arm and didn't let go. I well remembered how crazy she'd been coming at me, and I wasn't going to give her another opportunity to try and take me out.

"Like hell I was!" I said.

I pulled up on her arm. Just a little. Just enough to get the point across that I wasn't happy about her telling lies. She cried out. "Tell them the truth!"

Then I heard a voice that I recognized, and my heart sank. It would appear that I’d run out of time.

"What the hell is… Taylor? What are you doing here?"

Damn. Jasmine had arrived, and she didn't sound happy about the position she found me in.

Not that I could blame her.

18

Jasmine

It was like watching my worst nightmare coming true. I saw everything I'd worried about ever since Tara got on the warpath about Taylor. And now despite all the time I’d spent trying to avoid having this moment happen here it was staring me down.

Damn.

"What are you doing here Taylor?" I shouted.

It only occurred to me after I saw how she reacted to that shout that maybe it came off a little harsher than I intended. But still, I probably deserved to be a little harsh. She had no business being here.

"What are you waiting for? I told you this dyke is trying to feel me up! You get her the fuck out of here!"

I turned to Tara. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that she was up to her usual shenanigans, but I was. Just as surprised as I was to see Taylor here.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked Tara.

"Can you get this bitch off of me George?"

The bouncer stepped forward as though he was going to make a move on Taylor, but I held a hand up to stop him. I was seeing red. I was furious.

And I realized that fury had nothing to do with Taylor. She only came out here because I'd given her one hell of a reason to be suspicious in the first place. She wouldn't be here if she wasn't worried.

No, the real problem this entire time was Tara. The way she lorded over me. The way she did been sniping at me and making snide remarks and making outright threats and telling me that my girlfriend better not come here if she knew what was good for her.

Honestly. What kind of low class white trash bitch made those sorts of threats?

Probably the kind of low class white trash bitch who still thought any lesbian who touched her obviously had the hots for her. That was Tara to a T.

"Stay right there George," I said. Then I turned my attention to Tara. “You need to shut the fuck up."

Tara's eyes went wide and her mouth worked as though she was getting ready to tear into me, but for a wonder she stayed quiet. At least long enough for me to get a word in. I walked up to her and poked her in the chest. She grunted, but she didn’t make a move for me.

Maybe that arm lock Taylor held her in was enough to keep her under control. It was nice to know there was something that could keep her under control.

I looked over to Taylor first. Smiled.

"I'm so sorry," I said.

Now it was Taylor's turn to blink a couple of times and look surprised. "You're sorry?"

The tone of her voice made it clear she thought she was the one who needed to be sorry. Maybe she was right on some level. She had come out here when I specifically asked her not to, but again with as weird as I'd been acting I suppose I could forgive her for being a little suspicious.

I could worry about that later though. Right now I needed to clear the air between us.

"I haven't wanted to talk about my work, and I had a good reason," I said, turning to Tara. "This bitch here.”

"What are you talking about?" Taylor asked.

"She's been threatening me. Threatening you. Telling me that if you ever came to the club she was going to give both of us a piece of her mind, and in her vocabulary giving us a piece of her mind means she's going to try to assault us."

"She already tried to do that," Taylor said. "I'm sure if you check any of the security cameras I see around the place you'll see that."

Tara struggled a few times and let out an unintelligible growl, but otherwise she didn't say anything. No, instead she looked to the various cameras set up around the place. Some of them were dummy cameras, but I knew from going back into the manager's office that enough of them worked.

A place like this needed to have some sort of backup when the clients got too rowdy.

She slumped against Taylor and sighed in defeat. Yeah, something about the way she slumped told me she was the one who threw the first punch and Taylor was defending herself. That wouldn't look good when somebody went back to review the tapes.

"Let her go," I said, turning my attention to Taylor.

"Are you sure?" Taylor asked.

"I should’ve done this a long time ago," I said. "I was afraid of what might happen if I gave in, but I'm not afraid anymore."

Taylor shrugged and let Tara go. “Suit yourself."

Tara took a couple steps forward and she nearly fell. From the way her outfit looked it seemed it wouldn't be the first time she took a spill this evening. She turned and glared at Taylor with pure hatred, then she wheeled around on me.

"You are so going to pay for this," she said. "If I'm already on camera…"

She lunged at me and she was so fast that I almost didn't have time to step to the side. Almost. I dodged out of the way and she stumbled forward into the crowd. A crowd that parted around her. None of the guys made a move to help her, though I did see a couple of them catching glimpses of her as she stumbled forward.

She came up again and growled. Shoved herself at me.

It occurred to me that she wasn't all that good at fighting no matter what kind of game she talked. I also saw that several other people had appeared in the crowd. Girls who worked at the club who no doubt wanted to see what the commotion was. Meanwhile George wasn't lifting a finger to stop the fighting, though he was looking at Tara with some concern.

Then again if I had a dick and I was getting it sucked by someone I might be concerned if they were making a complete ass of themselves too. Apparently getting his dick sucked by Tara on the regular was enough to keep him from getting too involved in her fights.

Again Tara came at me, and this time I figured I'd done enough to prove I wasn’t the aggressor in this fight. I balled my hand into a fist and it made contact with her stomach as she went by. Only the fist making contact with her stomach made sure that she didn't keep going. Instead she doubled over and grunted.

I grabbed her by the hair and pulled her up until she was on her tiptoes.

"Tonight just isn't your night, is it?" I asked.

I felt something coursing through me that I hadn't felt in a good long time. Something I was slightly afraid of. Something I spent years trying to avoid. Something that made me feel alive.

It was time for this bitch to know exactly who she was messing with. I'd tried to take the high road. I tried to be the bigger person, the better person, but she refused to stop her relentless bullying. And now she'd hurt Taylor, or at least she tried to hurt Taylor, and that meant it was on.

It was time for the inner mean girl to come out to play.

“Did I ever tell you about my hometown Tara?" I asked, pulling back on her hair and causing her neck to arch out just a little.

"Why the fuck would you tell me about your hometown? I hate you and I don’t want to ever talk to you,” Tara said.

"It's funny. I grew up in a small town. Only a couple of stoplights. A whole bunch of Bible thumpers and Jesus freaks. The kind of person who wants to make your life a living hell if you have the audacity to love someone of the same sex."

I yanked back even more. She cried out in pain and I felt a surge of satisfaction. Damn this felt good. I was starting to realize that maybe there was a difference between being a mean girl to make myself feel better and being a mean girl to fight off bullies. It was fighting fire with fire, and felt nothing but exhilaration taking on Tara. It easily matched the shame I felt when I thought back to doing this to people who didn’t deserve it when I was in school.

“Did I ever tell you I was a prom queen?" I asked.

"Who would make a dyke like you prom queen?" Tara spat out.

I balled my hand into a fist again and held it in front of her nose. She went cross eyed.

"Shut up while I'm telling my story or I'll make sure your face isn't pretty enough for the stage even at the worst club in town," I said.

"I was a prom queen and everybody was happy for me. Do you know why?"

Tara licked her lips. Locked eyes with me. Seemed to realize there was a point to this story, and that point wasn't going to be good for her. Even she wasn't so dense that she missed that.

"Because anybody who made fun of me or the girl I brought to prom knew they were going to have the shit kicked out of them. Most of the guys too. That's how we rolled out in the country."

Tara didn’t say anything. Her eyes were locked on my fist. She seemed genuinely afraid for the first time since we’d met each other.

It actually felt sort of weird. We’d spent so much time with her being the bitchy one, threatening me and making me miserable, that it was funny seeing her whole bitchy facade come crashing down the first time someone challenged her on her bullshit.

"I like to think I'm a proof you can take the girl out of the small town,” I said. I looked at her and grinned. "But you’re proof they can’t take the trailer park out of the girl, you piece of shit.”

I finally let her go and this time I did have the supreme satisfaction of watching Tara go stumbling back. She fell back on her butt and let out a little yelp.

Good. It was the least the bitch deserved. I hope she bruised her tailbone.

"You're going to pay for that," she said.

I didn't say anything in response. I merely raised a fist at her. Her eyes went wide and she scrambled back. I noted that as she scrambled back through a puddle of some strange liquid.

I winced and really hoped that was beer. There was always a chance it was something else. Something that would be a lot more unpleasant to go crawling through.

Tara looked down and from the disgust that registered on her face she didn't care for what she was crawling through either. She held her hands up, sticky with whatever it was, and let out a scream. Looked up to George.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Help me out asshole!"

I saw the wheels turning in George's head. He wasn’t a bright man so the wheels were turning a little slowly. No doubt trying to decide if future blowjobs from Tara were worth the trouble of picking her up and getting whatever that liquid was on his hands as well. Finally he crossed his arms and shook his head.

That was good for another growl from Tara as she picked herself up and very nearly slipped in the stuff again. She shot me one last dirty look and and then disappeared into the crowd.

I stood there for a moment feeling alive. Really and truly alive for the first time in a long time.

I realized that it had been far too long since I stood up for myself. I'd been so afraid of hurting somebody that I’d allowed myself to become a complete pushover. I'd gone too far in the opposite direction out of the fear that I’d bully someone again.

Well no more. I’d proven to everyone tonight that I wasn't going to put up with that bullshit any longer. Tonight I showed that Tara wasn’t going to get me.

I looked to Taylor and cocked an eyebrow. "I think we need to talk."

She looked down and if anything she seemed almost reluctant. Then again, I'd never known the phrase "we need to talk" to ever result in something good. She was no doubt running through all the bad things that could potentially be coming as a result of those words.

But it was too late. She'd come here to check on me. Now that Tara was good and taken care of I couldn't ignore the fact that Taylor was here checking up on me.

"Do we have to?" she said.

"I think we do," I said in as quiet a tone as I could muster given everything that had happened tonight and the loud music still blasting all around us.

I reached out and took her hand. Though I noted that when she took my hand she didn't squeeze it like she usually did

No, things had changed between us tonight. I wasn't sure if they had changed for good, but I also wasn't sure that I wanted them to stay the same. Not after all this.

I took her through the back area. Not into the private rooms. Through the backstage area where we saw Tara. She shied away from me.

It was almost enough to make me laugh. She’d gone from being the big bad in the backstage area to being so afraid of me that she didn’t say anything as I walked past.

I hated to say it, but it felt good. Sometimes you needed to bully the bullies.

I continued pulling Taylor right on past Tara until we were out behind the club. It was always quiet back here.

I looked up to the stars above. I couldn't see all that many here in town, but there were enough to remind me of growing up at home in a farmhouse in the country where I could see for trillions of miles when I looked up.

Talking to Tara about where I grew up got me to thinking about that. Got me to thinking about the person I was once upon a time, and how maybe I needed to bring some of that confidence back into my life.

"Nice place they have here," Taylor said, looking around and rubbing her arms.

I looked around and realized that, aside from the view of the stars above, it really didn't look all that impressive down here. There was a dumpster off to one side, and a small wooded area behind us which sort of hid a gas station on the other side.

"It's quiet," I said.

"So you wanted to talk?" Taylor asked.

"I don't want to talk," I said. "I think after what happened in there we need to talk. Wouldn't you agree?"

Taylor sighed. "I suppose you're right. Look, I'm sorry for coming out here. I should have never…"

I held a hand up and that stopped her. She looked to me. Cocked an eyebrow.

I hated what I was about to say, but I needed to say it. After all, she was out here checking on me. She let suspicion get the best of her.

"I've seen what you did tonight happen time and again with girls, but I never thought it would happen to me."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

I sighed and looked up to the stars again. It helped distract me from what I was about to do. Thinking of home gave me strength. Just like it gave me strength when I was standing up to Tara.

"I've seen girls who were in relationships. I've seen what happens when their guys come out here and see them at work. Some of them can handle it, I know at least one guy who got off on the thought of his girl dancing close with guys professionally, but most of them can't take it. Most of them get jealous."

I searched her eyes. And the more I looked at her the more I knew I was absolutely right.

Taylor fell into the latter category. She was the kind of person who couldn't take the idea of the person she was dating working the kind of job I worked.

"It started at the party. The way you accused me when I went off with that guy. And coming here tonight… I'm willing to admit that I probably gave you a good reason to be suspicious, but you also came out here because you suspected something."

"Maybe I did," Taylor said. "But can you blame me?"

I reached out and touched her shoulder. She smiled and leaned her cheek down against my hand. I longed to run that hand along her cheek. To feel the heat there. To pull her in for a kiss.

I wasn't going to do that though. No, now wasn't the time to give into temptation, and Taylor was certainly temptation made flesh. Now was the time for me to be strong. Now was the time for me to be a little bit of the person I'd been going up.

Even if it killed me to do it.

"I can't say that I blame you. Especially since I was trying to keep what Tara was saying about you a secret. But at the same time the fact remains that you came out here. You let jealousy get the best of you, and I don't need that in my life right now."

It was like I was reaching into my chest and ripping out my heart. The way Taylor looked up at me, suddenly surprised, it was also pretty clear that was the last thing she expected from me. I hated it, but it had to be done. I'd seen what happened with those relationships. With girls who tried to make things work with someone who had a jealous streak.

It never worked out, and I had no illusions about it magically working out for me because I was a lesbian. It's not like we had magic superpowers when it came to our relationships succeeding.

"What are you saying Jasmine?" Taylor asked.

"I think you know what I'm saying Taylor," I said. "I can't be in a relationship where someone is jealous. Where I have to worry about you worrying about what I do at work. I’m at a strip club for men and you still came out here.”

"But I…"

I moved a finger up. Pressed it against her lips. She went crosseyed staring down at my index finger and once more that was enough to shut her up.

"I'm not saying this is the end Taylor," I said. I wished I could believe that. "All I'm saying is I think we need to take a break. Take a step back and evaluate what we both want. Decide if this kind of relationship, if my job, is something we can both handle."

I didn't tell her that I already knew how this turned out. That I'd seen other relationships that ended with girls taking a break from their boyfriends, and that break never ended.

I didn't want to be completely heartless. I didn't want to leave her without any hope.

"Is there nothing I can…"

I took her hand in mine. Gave it a squeeze. I relished that squeeze because something told me that was going to be the last time I felt her hand grasping my own for a very long time. Maybe ever. It broke my heart to think that.

"No more," I said. I leaned in and brushed my lips against hers. "I know this hurts, but this is how it has to be. Trust me."

I let her hand go. Forced myself to pull away. I knew this was for the best, I knew this was partly my fault. Maybe more than partly my fault. And yet we’d come to this place and I knew it had to happen.

I'd seen this play out often enough with other girls’ relationships and I didn't want it to happen to me.

So with a sigh I went back into work. To the place that had both introduced me to Taylor and pulled us apart.

There were times when I hated working here, even if the money couldn't be beat.

19

Taylor

I slumped back in my seat and looked at the incoming call list. It was a bunch of calls from a bunch of people who didn't know a mouse from their ass. In short, exactly the kind of call I dreaded whenever I came into work in the morning.

It also looked like nobody else in the support department was in the mood to take any of those calls. None of them were going away and I could see in the phone list that other people were active.

I sighed and I was about to pull one of them up when I felt someone coming up behind me.

"What's up?" Stephen asked.

I sighed in relief. I didn't want to talk to Dan right now. It was weird, but Dan served as a reminder of how he'd convinced me to go out to the strip club which led to thoughts of getting together with Jasmine.

And that naturally led to thoughts of how I'd fucked everything up. Big time. Not exactly the kind of thing I wanted to think about right now.

I wheeled around in my chair, glad for the distraction from the calls in the queue. After all, if Stephen wasn’t answering then I felt like I didn't have any obligation to answer them either.

I stopped when I saw Dan standing there with a grin on his face.

"Still sad about everything that happened?" he asked.

"Maybe a little," I said.

It still irked me that they knew everything about what had happened. It all came out after Jason was kicked out on his ass for harassing people at the office party. Turns out Jasmine wasn’t the only girl he bothered that night, and Gwen had come down on him with a righteous fury.

Telling the guys about my part in that naturally led to how I got a little suspicious of Jasmine and maybe let that suspicion get the better of me. That led to talking about how everything fell apart around us.

Damn it. Now here I was thinking about it again.

"I told you this was a bad idea," Stephen said.

"Hold on," Dan said. "Let's give it a chance before we say this was a failure."

I eyed the two of them with suspicion. This sounded a lot like the conversation that got me dragged to a strip club in the first place. I was wary of those conversations now.

Especially since I was still suffering from one hell of a case of lingering heartbreak. I couldn’t go more than ten minutes without thinking about how I’d royally screwed things up with Jasmine.

I mean sure she'd done her part to help screw things up, I was well aware that it took two to tango with our fucked up situation, but still.

"What are the two of you planning?" I asked.

"We’re not planning anything," Dan said.

"That's not the truth and you know it Dan,” Stephen said.

"Well it's close enough to the truth," Dan said.

"Yeah and Darth Vader killed Luke's father from certain point of view but we all know that's bullshit,” Stephen said.

I rolled my eyes. "Could you guys drop the Star Wars routine and tell me what the hell you're going on about?"

"Fine. We were going to see if you wanted to come out on the monthly outing."

I cocked an eyebrow. "And which one of the two of you lovelies decided you were going to come out of the closet finally?" I asked. “I know it can't be Stephen. Not with the hottie he landed. That would be a crime against heterosexuality!"

Dan and Stephen exchanged glances as they realized exactly what I was talking about. They burst into laughter. I didn't think the joke was that good, but if they were going to give me credit then whatever.

"You guys still aren't telling me what's going on here," I said.

"But I totally did," Dan said. "We want you to come to the work outing with us."

"What work outing?”

"The one to the club," Stephen said, and then he looked away and cleared his throat.

I stared between the two of them. Looked for any sign that this was their idea of a joke. If it was a joke then it wasn’t a very funny one.

"You guys are kidding me," I said.

"Totally not," Stephen said. Then he turned to Dan. "I told you this was a bad idea!"

"It's totally not a bad idea," Dan said. "I've already told you what my plan is."

"And were you going to tell me what this plan is?" I asked.

My irritation was mounting by the moment. As far as I knew they hadn't gone on the first outing about a month ago even though they talked about it. Maybe there was something about the rapid development of my relationship with Jasmine coupled with its equally rapid demise that made them realize it would be in poor taste for all the guys to go out to the Lacy Garter.

Apparently a month was enough time for them to think it was A-okay though.

It was difficult for me to push down on my irritation. They should know that place was off limits.

Though I chided myself for being ridiculous even as I thought it. After all, I always thought it was silly how the straights went on about their exes as though it was a huge betrayal of trust for someone to date them. That wasn't a luxury I had in the small gay communities I ran in, from college to the here and now.

So if I thought it was ridiculous when somebody tried to claim an ex for their own then wasn't it equally ridiculous that I was getting upset as though the entire strip club where my ex worked was somehow my territory?

"This was a bad idea," Stephen said. "Forget we even brought it up. I'm sorry we bothered you.”

I held up a hand and shook my head.

"No. I'm sorry. Maybe I overreacted just a little."

"I told you…" Dan started to say, but then I shut him up with a glare.

"Or maybe you guys are being dicks, but that has yet to be seen. So why don't you go ahead and tell me what your big plan is?”

Dan grinned. It was the same grin that convinced me to go to the strip club in the first place. It was the same sort of grin that told me I was about to get into trouble.

"It's pretty simple," Dan said. "You have to go to that club tonight."

“I have to go to that club tonight?”

I really hoped my tone communicated just what I thought of that idea. I was willing to hear him out, but if he thought he was going to win me over with circular reasoning like “I have to go to the club tonight because I have to go to the club tonight” then he had another thing coming.

“Now wait a minute and hear him out,” Stephen said. “As always there’s sort of a method to the man’s madness. You have to give him that considering how things turned out last time.”

This time I turned the look on Stephen and he seemed to realize, just a little too late, exactly how that sounded. After all, things hadn’t worked out all that well at all in the end, had they? Even if they did seem to be going well for a short while.

“Sorry,” Stephen said. He had the good grace to blush and turn away. Obviously he was a little embarrassed.

“Please. Tell me all about how you’re going to turn things around for me. Tell me all about how going to a strip club is going to save a relationship I’m not in anymore because the last time I went to that strip club everything blew up in my face. I’m really interested in finding out how you’re getting from one to the other.”

“Like I said, hear me out,” Dan said.

“I’m listening, but I can’t guarantee you’re going to like the finger I show you when you’re done,” I replied.

Dang. I was getting really salty with him. I figured he deserved it just a little. Sure it wasn’t his fault that everything had gone wrong. That was all on me and Jasmine. Still, I couldn’t help but be a little annoyed with him since it was convincing me to go to the strip club in the first place that started all the trouble.

“You need to go out there because you need to grow a pair,” Dan said.

I arched an eyebrow. It was an interesting start, I’d give him that. I wasn’t sure I liked where he was going with this, but I’d give him a chance.

“Go on,” I said.

“Well the way I see it is this girl said there was still maybe a chance for the two of you, right?” he asked.

“She said that, but I don’t really believe it,” I replied.

“Sure you don’t believe it, and that’s why you’re not out there fighting for this girl,” Dan said. “But what I’m trying to tell you here is you need to be out there fighting for her.”

I sighed. “You don’t understand. It’s way more complicated than that. I went out there and betrayed her. I made her think that she was…”

I stopped, my voice catching. I’d managed to keep it together talking about Jasmine so far, but I was having trouble now. Sure we’d only been dating for about a month when everything went to shit, but there was something about the intensity of that month that made me feel the loss way more intensely than I had other relationships that lasted about that long.

“You’re bullshitting yourself, and I’m not going to let one of my friends do that,” Dan said.

I looked up at him and I felt moisture gathering at the edge of my vision. I was going to lose it in front of these guys. I didn’t want to lose it in front of them. Not and ruin the tough girl routine that I cultivated at this place.

“Look at the way you’re tearing up just thinking about this girl,” Dan said. “Maybe you were only dating for a little while, but those are the tears of someone who really misses a person. Am I right?”

“I guess you are,” I said, still not wanting to concede the point.

“Of course I’m right. You really had feelings for this girl and you let jealousy get the better of you, but is that any reason for you to let everything go to hell the first time you stumble?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said. “She made it pretty clear she didn’t want to hear from me again.”

“Actually that’s not what I heard when you told us about your breakup,” Stephen said.

“Excuse me?”

“You said that she said that you needed to take a break, but that’s it. Maybe her tone said something else, but that gives you an opening.”

“Is there a point to all this?”

I knew I wasn’t being fair. They were just trying to cheer me up, after all. They were just giving me a pep talk and trying to let me know everything was going to be okay even if we all knew everything wasn’t going to be okay.

That was what friends did for each other, and these guys were pretty good friends even if I did get annoyed with Dan from time to time.

Stephen was the one taking point now though. Maybe Dan had started this conversation, but the intense look on Stephen’s face said the he was damn well going to be the one who finished it.

“Look, you’re always making comments about how lucky I am to be with Carrie, right?” he asked.

I blushed and looked away. I suppose I did make comments like that a lot, now that I thought about it. And now that he pointed it out it occurred to me that maybe it wasn’t the nicest thing in the world to say. Maybe he could take that the wrong way and think I was making fun of him or something.

That couldn’t be farther from the truth. I was happy for the guy. Happy he’d found a girl who was so hot who also made him so happy. If anything I was jealous that I didn’t have that in my life.

But I could see where he would take that the wrong way.

“Yeah, I suppose,” I said.

“Well do you think I rolled over and gave up the first time we had an argument? The first time it looked like she was going to go off and find someone else? Hell no I didn’t, and you know why?”

I had a feeling I knew where he was going with this, but he’d worked up a good head of steam and I didn’t have the heart to stop him.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because I was in love with the girl and I wasn’t going to let anything stop it, that’s why,” he said. “And if you’re really in love with this Jasmine girl then you should do the same thing. So you made some mistakes, so you hurt her feelings. If people broke up every time they hurt their feelings then no one would ever stay together!”

I stared at him with my jaw hanging open. Dan was doing a bit of the same. Stephen was always such a nice guy. So down to earth with a ready smile on his face. Passionate isn’t a word I’d ever use to describe him, and yet “passionate” is the only way I could think to describe the speech he’d just made.

“I guess you do sort of have a point,” I said. “You’re saying if I like the girl then I should go out there and try to fix things. Not sit here and mope and hope she’ll call me or something?”

I hated to admit it, but that had been my grand plan for saving our relationship. Waiting for her to realize she couldn’t live without me. Waiting for her to come around and beg me to take her back.

Though the more time stretched out between our argument and the present the more I was thinking that call wasn’t going to come. The more I figured she’d been totally serious when she said she knew how these sorts of relationships ended when someone got jealous.

I hated that my jealousy had done this. Why had I ever suspected her of messing around on me? It wasn’t fair to her, damn it.

“Fine. So maybe you have something. I just hope you’re not doing all this in an attempt to get me to go out with you or something,” I said.

“Would I ever do something like that?” Dan said.

“Trust me. This is all about getting you back with that Jasmine girl,” Stephen said. “We’ve never seen you happier than when you were with her, and we want you to be that happy again!”

I fixed them both with a level glare, but both of them didn’t turn away. Both of them had a look of anticipation on their faces that told me they were completely serious about this. They wanted this to work out. Heck, maybe they’d organized this whole outing so I would have a chance to get out there and see Jasmine again.

“You guys are devious. You know that, right?” I asked.

“Maybe we are, but you wouldn’t have it any other way,” Stephen said.

“So does that mean you’re going?” Dan asked.

“Yes it means I’m going,” I said. “I still think it’s a terrible idea and this is all going to end in tears, but damn it I’m going.”

And for the first time since Jasmine and I had that argument behind her work I felt a bit of hope. Sure it wasn’t much, but it was something. Maybe this wouldn’t have an unhappy ending after all.

A girl could hope.

20

Jasmine

“Y’know this place has been so much nicer since you stood up to Tara,” Tiffany said.

I looked over at her as she put on some of her makeup and rolled my eyes. She wasn’t the first girl to come up and thank me for standing up to Tara. I had a feeling she wouldn’t be the last either.

She was the only girl who insisted on thanking me every single night though. It was getting to the point where the people thanking me for getting Tara to finally step off of her constant warpath was almost as annoying as Tara had been while she was on the warpath.

Almost. Not quite. It was nice to be able to enjoy the dressing room without worrying about someone calling me a dyke or saying I was checking her out.

I looked over to the back corner of the dressing room. Tara had been banished back there when it became clear that no one else back here was going to stand up for her.

That had been almost as satisfying as when I threatened her. Almost as satisfying as when she went to the owner to complain and he pointed out that he had video of her assaulting a client and she was lucky she wasn’t getting fired.

Almost as satisfying, but not quite. Yeah, she wasn’t a worry anymore. It was refreshing after all the trouble she’d caused me for so long.

Especially considering she was a big part of the reason why I was no longer with Taylor. Sure Taylor getting jealous in the first place and not trusting me had been the straw that broke the camel’s back, but Tara was the one who’d been piling that straw on and stressing me out to the point that things got that bad.

“So are you looking forward to the evening?” I asked. “Saturday night. There should be plenty of people out there. Lots of money!”

“I think the question is are you looking forward to it?” Tiffany asked.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said.

I preoccupied myself by concentrating on putting on some glitter lotion. Applied properly the stuff could provide a nice shine when I was out under the lights.

Of course there’d been a couple of times when I got clients in trouble because they came home with glitter all over their clothes and they told me later that their wives or girlfriends didn’t appreciate it, but I figured that was a whole lot of not my problem.

“Come on Jasmine,” Tiffany said. “You haven’t been the same ever since that night. I mean I know you did a big favor for all of us by standing up to that bitch, but maybe you should give that girl a call?”

“I already told you I’m not doing that and that’s that,” I said. “I made my decision.”

Of course that wasn’t entirely the truth. Just about every night before I headed out to work I played a little game where I stared at my phone and willed myself to call Taylor. All I’d have to do is unlock my phone, open up my contacts, and tap on her name.

It was so simple, and I couldn’t bring myself to do it. There was something that was keeping me from calling her. Maybe it was stubborn pride. Maybe it was lingering annoyance that she’d been there that night.

Maybe it was the feeling I had that I’d completely overreacted to her being out there in the first place. Maybe it was the lingering feeling that I’d completely fucked things up and no amount of talking to Taylor on the phone was going to fix it.

Sure she’d been jealous, but the more I thought of it the more I thought that was something we could’ve worked through. I’d just been so worked up in the moment, so ready to lash out at anyone, and Taylor had been right there.

So I did what I always did when Taylor came up. I didn’t think about it.

“She made her decision that night and I made mine,” I said. “I’m not calling her.”

Tiffany shrugged. “Suit yourself, but you’ve been pretty miserable ever since that blowup. Maybe you should reconsider.”

I slammed the glitter lotion down on my table so hard that some of it squirted up and landed on my makeup. I growled. That was going to be a pain to clean up. Once you got that glitter on stuff it was impossible to get out.

I knew because I’d made the mistake of washing some of my work clothes at my apartment and now glitter seemed like a permanent fixture in my dryer. I wasn’t going to get my damage deposit back because of that.

“Would you give it a rest?” I asked.

“Of course,” Tiffany said.

Tiffany stood and made her way over to the staging are. There was still at least one performer ahead of her, but I had a feeling she didn’t want to be around me right about now.

Not that I could blame her. I’d been on edge ever since the argument with Taylor. It was antsy. I felt like an addict who needed a fix and I couldn’t get it. At least what I imagined an addict felt like.

Lord knows I’d seen plenty of examples here in this dressing room since I started working here.

“You know you shouldn’t be mean to people like that.”

I turned to look up at the source of that nugget of wisdom. Sure my brain knew that was Tara’s voice, but I had a hard time connecting that calm somewhat rational voice to the girl I knew who flew off the handle and tried to make me miserable whenever she could.

This was the first time she’d talked to me since the incident. Usually she bustled past me as quickly as possible and then tried to get out on stage or onto the floor as fast as she could.

Even now when I looked up at her she flinched away as though she thought I was going to hurt her or something.

“What do you want?” I asked.

She flinched again, but for a wonder she stood her ground. She stayed right there in front of me staring down with a touch of defiance. There was a touch of the fire the old Tara showed, but not much.

She really was a changed person since the day I stood up to her. I wondered if that change was permanent or if this was the start of her backsliding and doing her best to make me miserable again.

“Look…”

She paused. Looked around the room. Seemed to be gathering her thoughts. What little thoughts she could be said to have. Finally she looked back at me and sighed.

“Can I sit down for a minute?” she asked.

“Be my guest,” I said.

She started to sit, but I held up a finger and she stopped.

“Know that if you start up any of your old bullshit I’m going to make you regret it even more than you regret what happened here a few weeks ago.”

“I suppose I deserved that,” she said after a long moment.

I blinked. Okay then. Not what I expected from her. I hadn’t known Tara to ever take on the blame for something in her life. That she was doing it now was a big change. Weird.

Everything was changing, not always for the better, but this was one change I could get used to.

“So what’s on your mind?” I asked.

“I think you’re making a mistake,” she said.

I rolled my eyes. Here we go again. More talk about how my lifestyle was an abomination. More talk about how I was a horrible pervert.

“Look Tara, I was serious when I said I don’t have time for more of your bullshit right now. I have to get ready to go out there and…”

She surprised me by reaching out and putting a hand on mine. I looked down and regarded it like I might look at a vicious dog that had clamped down on my hand. Sure it didn’t hurt as much, but it was just as surprising and unwelcome.

“Would you just listen to me? Please?” she hissed, and there was something of the old Tara there for that moment.

But I decided to hear her out. She’d come over here to talk to me and obviously something was bothering her. I figured the least I could do is listen to whatever she had to say. If I didn’t like it I could always tell her to fuck off.

After all, she was so afraid of me these days that all I had to do was say “boo” and she’d scurry for the other side of the dressing room.

“Look, I never told you why I was so angry at you for so long,” she said. “I guess I didn’t want to think about it because I’m sort of ashamed of something that happened a long time ago.”

She paused. Stared off into the distance. Off into the past. It was a look that I recognized all too well. I’d had that look on more than one occasion when I thought back to my own mean girl days.

“It’s stupid. You wouldn’t understand,” she said.

I thought back to the bad old days. To when I externalized all the worries in my life, particularly the worry that someone would figure out I was a lesbian. When I took out that frustration on other people who didn’t deserve it.

I was basically a walking talking poster child for what not to do when you’re a closet case in high school. The kind of person people look back on and think “I always knew they were gay.”

Not that I could help it entirely. I was from a small town where being gay was pretty much the worst thing that could ever happen to you. That didn’t excuse what I did at all, but it was how I was able to live with myself now.

“I think I might know more about that sort of thing than you think,” I said. “So why don’t you tell me?”

This felt even weirder than when I was standing up to her and she was backing down. Now that I’d showed her I wasn’t going to be pushed around she’d turned around and was using me as a shoulder to cry on?

It was weird, but if that’s what she needed I suppose I could do it.

“It all started with one of my best friends back in school,” she said. “We knew each other from elementary school through high school and we were inseparable.”

I frowned and thought back to a couple of “friends” I’d had growing up. Friends who were really more like relationships I wanted to have but couldn’t because I was afraid of making a move and outing myself. I thought about the longing and the pain and how difficult it was to have feelings for someone like that and keep it hidden.

Again, another one of your stereotypical experiences for a gay kid growing up in a small town. Was Tara about to tell me that she had a crush on one of her friends or something?

“Well I thought we were friends, at least, until one night at a skate party for the school,” she said.

“A skate party? They still had those where you lived?”

“Well yeah. Small town. Not like there’s much else to do but bowl, skate, drink, or fuck,” she said. “You should know that if what you said about where you grew up is true.”

I laughed at that. The girl had a point. There really wasn’t much to do. Unless you wanted to have fun with some city folks and take them out cow tipping which totally wasn’t a real thing. I’d like to see someone try to push over a dangerous animal that weighed that much, but whatever.

“So what happened with your friend?”

“She hit on me,” Tara said, her eyes still getting that faraway look, but now she frowned. “She took me out back and said she had something to tell me and the next thing I know she’s trying to make out with me.”

I blinked. Okay then. I’d had a couple of awkward experiences where I confessed my feelings to a girl after I decided to come out of the closet. Experiences that didn’t go very well at all, but I didn’t lead with trying to kiss them or make out with them.

“Huh. That had to be a little weird,” I said.

“It was!” Tara said. “It’s like I think this is my best friend and then she’s trying to make out with me and I wasn’t like that at all and I was afraid someone might see us and think I was like that which was like a social death sentence…”

I snorted. What she said was harsh, but it was also the truth. Again, I was more than familiar with what it meant to grow up in a small town where being gay was considered about the worst thing you could do aside from not going to church on Sunday.

Not that I’d been to church since coming out. I didn’t have time for people who didn’t have time for me, thank you very much.

“So what happened then?” I asked, sensing that there was more to this story. More that Tara wanted to get out.

She sighed and if anything that frown that had been threatening on her pretty face deepened. I got the feeling we were about to get down to the really bad part of this sob story.

“I pushed her away and told her to get the fuck away from me. That I didn’t want anything to do with her. It felt wrong, but I also felt so betrayed. Like you think you know someone, you think your relationship is one thing, and then you find out it was completely different. I thought of all the sleepovers, all the…”

Her voice caught and there were actually tears threatening at the corner of her eyes. Damn. Tara was so upset about this that she was about to cry. I couldn’t believe it. The ice queen did have the ability to show emotion.

The only problem? I had no fucking clue why she was showing all this emotion with me. It made absolutely zero sense.

“So is there a point to this story or…”

“The point is that was why I was so mean to you. Every time I see… someone like you I think about my friend. I think about how she was something other than what she always claimed and it made me mad. It was like seeing you brought all of that back up. It’s stupid, but…”

I reached out and put a hand on hers. I wasn’t sure how she would take that considering our adversarial relationship, but for a wonder she merely smiled. Maybe things really were changing for the better between us.

Or maybe she was trying to get me to let my guard down, but I figured the least I could give her was the benefit of the doubt after that sad story.

“I was more mad at myself than anything, I guess,” she said. “I threw away a friendship because I didn’t know how to deal with her acting like that.”

Now there was something that sounded familiar. I thought of a few friendships of my own that had ended because my friends didn’t know how to deal with me being a lesbian. I thought of a relationship that had ended more recently because I didn’t know how to deal with Taylor freaking out about what I did for a living.

And suddenly some things were starting to look at lot clearer than they did just a few minutes ago. Funny that it would be Tara of all people who would cause me to have that epiphany, but here we were.

“Look, maybe you should look up your friend or something?” I asked. “Obviously this has been bothering you for awhile, and obviously it’s turned you into someone who’s not exactly pleasant to be around all the time…”

I waited to see if she’d react to that. It was one thing to realize you’d been a beast to the people around you, and it was another thing entirely to get called out on it.

“Maybe you’re right,” she said. “And maybe I’m not the only one who should be giving someone a call just because they didn’t turn out to be exactly who you thought they were.”

And with that she stood and walked off, leaving me with my thoughts. I never thought I’d be getting good relationship advice from Tara of all people, but the crazy bitch did have a point.

21

Taylor

I stopped outside the Lacy Garter and had to take a moment to really compose myself.

“I’m not sure this was such a good idea guys,” I said. “I mean I don’t even know if she’s in there tonight, and after everything that happened the last time I was in there she really might not want to see me.”

I was unceremoniously picked up by Stephen and Dan and escorted up to the front door. Damn.

And there we reached what I figured would be the first stumbling block of the evening. None other than the bouncer who’d been there the day I got into that fight with Tara. He looked me over and from the way his eyes went wide it was pretty obvious that he recognized me right off.

“Um, hi,” I said, trailing off and suddenly unsure of myself.

A part of me hoped that he might decide I wasn’t worth the trouble. That just the risk of another fight would be enough reason to send me packing. Unfortunately for me he grinned instead.

“Back for more trouble?” he asked.

“Something like that,” I muttered. “I just want to have a nice quiet night at the club with my friends.”

“Quiet like the last time you were here? Y’know Tara hasn’t been the same since that night.”

“Sorry,” I muttered again, not sure what I was supposed to say to that.

“Oh no need to be sorry at all,” the guy said, still all grins. “If anything Tara’s been great since that night. Not nearly as mean to people. She even agreed to go on an actual date with me sometime!”

“Um, good?” I said.

This conversation was making me more and more uncomfortable by the minute. It didn’t help that everyone else was standing around staring at me with the gears obviously turning in their heads. Dan and Stephen were the only ones who really knew what happened here and why I was so reluctant to return.

I had a feeling after this conversation with the bouncer they weren’t going to be the only ones who knew what was going on by the end of the night. Damn it.

“So I can go in?” I asked, still half expecting him to tell me to fuck off.

“Oh sure,” he said, gesturing in. “I got no problem with you, but you might have a bit of trouble when you get in there.”

“Thanks,” I said, any semblance of a good mood that might’ve been developing disappearing at his words.

Damn. That was just a reminder that there was someone out there who wasn’t going to be too happy to see me. Someone who had good reason to not be happy to see me after everything that happened.

Even if it wasn’t really fair. So I made a mistake. It’s not like I was the first person to ever make a mistake in a relationship. To royally screw things up.

Then again I had royally screwed things up pretty early on in the relationship even if we had been having a pretty good time together. I suppose that more than anything was why Jasmine decided to disqualify me.

Well I was going to try and fix that tonight. Maybe I’d get in there and she’d tell me to fuck right off. Maybe she wouldn’t want anything to do with me.

Maybe that was the case, but I was going to go in there and I was going to stand up for myself. I was going to let her know that I still wanted her. That I still wanted to be with her. That I still thought we had a chance and what we had together before everything got fucked up was pretty damn good thank you very much.

And if she decided she still wanted to throw everything away after I said my piece? Well then I was probably going to go to the grocery store later and get some late night drinking supplies that would be a hell of a lot cheaper than getting drunk at the strip club and some pints of ice cream to go along with it.

I had the whole weekend to drown my sorrows, after all. Might as well make use of the whole thing.

But as we stepped into the club I couldn’t help but feel a bit of excitement. Being in the club meant I was close to her. It meant I was going to see her again, and the thought of seeing her again, even if there was a good possibility seeing her again wouldn’t go as well as it went in my imagination, was enough to get me good and excited.

“You doing okay so far?” Stephen asked.

He came up behind me and rubbed my shoulders. If any other man ever did that, Dan included, I would’ve tried to throw them over my shoulder. With Stephen it was innocent enough though, and so I leaned back and let the back rub relieve some of my tension.

“I suppose I’m about as good as I’m going to be,” I said. “There’s nothing for it but to go up there and see if she wants to talk.”

The only problem? I didn’t see her anywhere. It was funny. I was doing my best to avoid her the last time I was down here and now all I wanted was to see Jasmine and she was nowhere to be found.

That made sense, I suppose. After all, she wasn’t a fan of coming out on the floor. It’s not like she’d be out here doing lap dances or anything like that, and I doubted she’d be in the back room unless one of those couples came through.

I felt a stab of jealousy thinking of her being in one of the back rooms with a couple, and I stomped down on that stab of jealousy as soon as it hit me.

I wasn’t going to think like that anymore. Thinking like that is what got me in this situation in the first place, and I wasn’t going to let jealousy get the best of me. I had no reason to be jealous. She had a perfectly good reason for not wanting me to come out here.

I just really hoped I didn’t see the reason Jasmine didn’t want me coming out here. Last time around Jasmine leapt to my defense when that Tara girl came out with fists flying, but I didn’t think there was going to be a rescue like that again.

Damn. I’d been so preoccupied worrying about what Jasmine would say when she saw me that I never stopped to think about what might happen if I ran into that crazy bitch. What if she was on the warpath? What if she decided to get in a fight with me again?

Sure the bouncer said she was much nicer now, but that was with a guy she had the hots for. Something told me the situation would be a little different for me considering what I’d done to her.

“Well look who it is,” I heard someone say from behind me.

I squeezed my eyes shut. Speak of the crazy bitch and she shall appear. This was not what I needed right now. I needed to find Jasmine and say my piece and get out of here. I didn’t need another fight with crazy bitch.

I turned around and I was halfway to raising my fist when she held a hand up to stop me. It was clear from the way she looked me up and down that she wasn’t happy to see me here, though I guess I couldn’t blame her considering how she got her ass handed to her the last time around, but she didn’t look like she was spoiling for a fight or anything.

“Calm your tits,” she said. “I’m not here to fight you. I’m here to talk to you.”

I looked down at my fist which was still half raised. I’d been on the verge of using that thing. I blushed and put it down, and I was glad she couldn’t see that blush in the darkness.

“What do you want?” I asked.

I couldn’t quite believe that all she wanted was to chat. No, after everything that happened the last time around I figured she was still out here spoiling for a fight even if she was playing nice right now. The only thing I could think was she was trying to get me to let my guard down or something.

“You know Jasmine really misses you,” she said.

My heart leapt at that admission. It was everything I’d hoped for these past couple of weeks when I was separated from her, but it seemed too good to be true. And it also seemed odd to hear that coming from this girl. It made me wonder if she was up to something.

“What’s your angle telling me this? Are you trying to make me look bad or something?”

I realized the guys I came in with weren’t anywhere in evidence. I glanced across the room and saw them settle into a booth. Dan gave me a thumbs up. Did he not realize this wasn’t Jasmine?

I sighed. It looked like I was on my own. Maybe that was for the best though. It meant my coworkers wouldn’t be up close if I ended up getting into another fight.

The girl, Tara, took in a deep breath and sighed. I noticed how that deep breath accentuated her tits and tried to ignore it. She might be a raging bitch, but the girl was also hot. She’d have to be to work in this club where the girls seemed hotter than usual.

Not that I had a huge basis of comparison. It’s not like I spent all my time hanging out in strip clubs.

“Would you shut up and listen to me?” she said. “So I was wrong the last time you were here. I can admit that. Now will you listen to me before you do something stupid again?”

I blinked as though I’d been slapped. She was being forceful, but not in a bitchy way this time around. No, she was all business and it felt like she actually was trying to help me. The girl wasn’t trying to punch me or anything, at least, and I figured that was a hell of an improvement.

“So you say Jasmine misses me,” I said. “Why would you care how Jasmine feels? The last time I was here you were doing a pretty good job of threatening me.”

The girl sighed again. Again I found myself distracted by how good she looked when she sighed. Again I forced my eyes to go up to her eyes rather than concentrating on the more interesting parts of her outfit.

There was only one girl for me in this club, and it wasn’t this crazy bitch who’d done her best to get in a fight with me the last time I came out here.

“I probably deserved that,” she said. “I don’t know if things are ever going to be totally cool with me and Jasmine, or with you for that matter, but I do know that I can try to do some things that will make up for the way I acted, and this is it. She misses you. She probably wants to see you again. If she acts like she’s not happy to see you it’s an act. Remember that.”

And with that the girl faded back into the crowd around us. Like a wise Yoda in a stripper outfit who came to dispense knowledge then disappeared to be one with the Force when she was done.

Yoda in a stripper outfit and stripper heels. Now there was a funny thought that was more and more unpleasant the more I thought about the nitty gritty details of that particular image.

Jasmine wanted to see me, but she might not act like she was happy to see me. Now there was some crazy advice. What did it mean?

I figured there were two things that could be going on here. Either Jasmine really did want to see me but she was still reluctant to say anything because she was still mad about the argument, or she didn’t want to have anything to do with me and this Tara girl was trying to fan the flames by telling me something that would get me to act exactly how I shouldn’t act around Jasmine.

The thing that finally decided me was I figured Tara probably wasn’t clever enough to be that clever. After all, the last time we had an argument she’d gone right to trying to punch me out. There was no subtlety there.

Maybe it was wishful thinking, but I wanted to believe she was telling the truth.

“And that’s it for Cinnamon. Coming up next on the main stage is none other than Jasmine!”

Well then. The DJ’s announcement made it clear that whatever was going to happen was going to happen pretty damn soon. I shivered and looked up to the stage. All the lights had gone out but I knew she was going to be up there soon. She was going to be doing her dance and swaying and showing off that body that she showed off to a lot of people at work but that she reserved just for me where it counted.

In the end that’s what really mattered. I got jealous thinking of what she did for a living, but the honest truth was she reserved her heart for me and that’s all I cared about. Other people could see her body and enjoy looking at her, but I was the only one who got her body and soul.

Assuming I could fix this royal fuckup I’d made of things by being jealous in the first place. Why did I have to be such an idiot?

The lights came up and the music started. The curtains in the back parted and she stepped out looking just as beautiful as I remembered from the last time we saw each other.

Maybe even more beautiful than the last time we saw each other. After all, that time had been bittersweet because I figured it was the last time we were going to see each other. This time around I was suffering from withdrawal so just the sight of her was enough to set my body shivering.

And so I followed the siren call of the dance beat she swayed to and moved up to the middle of the stage where she was sure to see me. It was time to see if I could salvage the mess I’d made of things.

22

Jasmine

I could feel that something was different from the moment I stepped out onto the stage. Maybe it was a sixth sense. Maybe I picked up something out of the corner of my eyes without realizing it.

Whatever it was, I was hit with the certainty that she was out there somewhere. I don’t know how I knew she was in the club. It seemed impossible since I’d made it pretty clear I didn’t want her coming back to my job the last time we talked to each other even if I hadn’t come out and said it.

But I knew. I’d been thinking about calling her ever since that conversation with Tara. How crazy that a conversation with Tara of all people would lead me to trying to patch things up with Taylor, but there you had it.

I stepped out onto the stage and I shivered from my head down to the tips of my toes. The shivering threatened to throw me off balance. It was hard enough trying to keep my balance dancing in these heels on a good night, and with the added distraction of wondering where Taylor was it became next to impossible.

I walked out to the pole and surveyed the outer crowd first. It was next to impossible to see anything out there since it was so dark around the edges of the club and there were lights beating down on me ruining any night vision I might’ve had.

Still, that’s where she’d been hiding the last time she came to the club. I figured if she was out there somewhere tonight then that’s where she’d be. Only it was too dark out there to really see much of anything. The clients out there were all indistinct shadows.

Damn. I looked to the people around the stage. I saw a couple of regulars out there who were always good for a couple of bucks, but then my eyes landed on the center of the big round stage and I stumbled and fell on my ass.

Great. Not only was Taylor out there in the crowd. She was right there in front of me and the first thing she saw was me falling on my ass because apparently my brain couldn’t handle looking at her and dancing around in stripper heels at the same time.

Fuck.

I stared at her. Locked eyes with her. She smiled at me hesitantly and then held up a single dollar bill and arched an eyebrow.

It felt like that moment stretched on for an eternity, but I knew it could only have been a couple of seconds. When reality reasserted itself all around me the song I was dancing to hadn’t gone too far.

I knew because I’d been dancing to this song nonstop for the past six months since I started working here to make a few extra bucks and discovered I could make more here in a night than I did in a week at any other job I took.

I stood. My feet were wobbly. I looked back to the DJ booth and he did a little circular wave with his finger as though I was supposed to get on with the show, but he could bite me.

There were more important things out there than money right now. Far more important than the percentage he took from all the dancers. He could get a percentage of the one buck Taylor was holding up.

I walked over to her. There was no pretense. No sexiness. No sultry fake seduction. It was just me, a girl and not a performer, walking across the stage to see the girl of my dreams.

Even if it felt a little crazy to think of her as the girl of my dreams.

I knelt down in front of her.

“What are you doing here?” I shouted to be heard over the music.

“I was an idiot and I can’t stop thinking about you!” she shouted back. “Can you ever forgive me?”

Well then. That was awfully straightforward and to the point. I figured there would be some long drawn out conversation we had out here on the middle of the stage while people looked on and got a little pissed off that I wasn’t giving them the show they were hoping for.

Only I didn’t want that long drawn out conversation. She’d admitted she was an idiot. She admitted she couldn’t stop thinking about me. I couldn’t stop thinking about her, and…

“I was an idiot too,” I said. “I’m sorry I pushed you away!”

Yeah, it was weird having this conversation half naked while music pumped all around us at an almost deafening decibel level, but what could you do?

Again I thought the conversation might go longer than that, but Taylor had other ideas. She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me towards her, and I suddenly didn’t care that I was up onstage. That there were guys all around who paid for the illusion of getting to spend a little time with me. Who might get the wrong idea if they saw me making out with someone who looked like a customer.

I didn’t care about any of that because I felt the familiar sensation of Taylor’s hands wrapping around me and pulling me towards her as they rested on the small of my back. I wrapped my legs around her as I fell off the stage and for a wonder she was able to hold me up.

Damn. The girl must work out or something.

And then we were kissing. It was a perfect kiss. It was a kiss that was full of all the raw energy that passed between the two of us when we first got together. It was a kiss that was filled with the desperate longing we’d both felt as we were separated from each other.

In short it was one perfect kiss in the middle of my work, and with that one perfect kiss I knew that everything was going to be okay. Sure we’d have to work at things, that’s what relationships were about, but in that moment I knew it was all going to be all right.

I’d like to say that people burst into applause after that. That the clients were understanding of their show being interrupted and the DJ put on some schmaltzy love tune or something, but that would be too far from reality and the business I worked in.

“Jasmine, you going to get up on stage?” he finally asked through the mic. I stopped and looked around. Realized that the people around the stage were looking at us with more than a little irritation.

“I’ve got this,” someone said from the side.

I expected Tiffany, but I turned and saw Tara disentangling herself from someone she’d been giving a lap dance and stepping up onstage. Almost immediately the guys around the stage turned from frowns to smiles.

I guess they didn’t care who was up there onstage taking her clothes off as long as clothes were coming off.

I mouthed a “thanks” to Tara and took Taylor by the hand. It was time to head to one of the back rooms for one hell of a private dance.

Want More?

Want more? Keep reading for sample chapters from my book Secret Lover! It’s the tale of a forbidden romance between TA and student. If you liked Stripped you’ll enjoy Secret Lover!

Also by Mia Archer

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Two geeky girls bond over their love of costuming and discover love in the process!

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Falling in love wasn’t on Amber’s radar. Especially with another woman. Only life and love don’t have to make sense as she explores a new world with a secretive online lover!

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Will small town life pull a budding relationship apart or bring them closer than ever before?

Anna and Erin were the best of the best looking for fun in their geeky game of choice, but they’ll discover there’s a thin line between love and competition!

A holiday in the biggest amusement park in the world. A princess in hiding. A band geek who’s about to get the surprise of her life. What could go wrong?

Claire and Allison are star-crossed lovers who get a second chance at their five year reunion!

Student and teacher. The ultimate forbidden romance, but sometimes forbidden can be so much fun!

Two girls in love. A family who doesn’t understand. An illness that could tear them apart.

Night Terror is the greatest villainess in the world, and she has to find a way to defeat sexy new superhero Fialux. Oh, and she’s totally in love with her new archenemy. What could go wrong?

Secret Lover

1

Keri

“Come on Keri. All I want is one little dance. Just like it used to be. Is that too much to ask?”

I pushed Simone away and looked around the booth for someone to come to my rescue. Melissa took a drink, but it was obvious from the way she was smirking as the cup went up to her lips that she was just as amused by my precarious situation as everyone else sitting around the booth.

I looked to Barb for a save, but she looked at me over her glasses and shook her head. She might not exactly be happy that we weren’t an item anymore, but we at least got along. I guess getting along with each other didn’t extend to her giving me some sympathy when I was stuck in a situation like this.

“Look Simone,” I said. “We had some fun together, but…”

Her face softened and she reached out to stroke my cheek. I blinked. Not the reaction I was expecting.

“I know,” she said. “You’re still fragile after what happened. I’m sorry I pushed you.”

I took a drink of my own and figured it might be easier to go with this. Sure my grandma dying right in front of me at the mall was an excuse, but I was never one to not take advantage of a convenient excuse when it came along.

I’m sure grandma would’ve appreciated me using her death like that. She always had a twisted sense of humor, after all.

“Sure, that’s right,” I said.

To be honest it was a convenient excuse that wasn’t all that far from the truth. I thought back to that moment at the mall and quickly pushed it out of my mind. It wasn’t a pleasant memory and I wasn’t going to relive it here when I came out to have fun with some of my friends.

“We’re so sorry about that,” Melissa said.

For a surprise it sounded like she meant it. There were times when I didn’t think there was a sincere bone in her body, but damn did she look good in a pair of tight shorts.

I looked down at my drink. Spun it around a few times and watched the booze inside swirling around a little behind the glass turning. For a moment I was back in that mall. Watching her fall.

“I should have been able to do something,” I said, low enough that I was pretty sure it couldn’t be heard over the music blasting.

They could all read lips well enough though. It was a skill you had to pick up if you were going to have a conversation in this place.

“There was nothing you could do about it,” Erica said.

She reached out and put a hand on mine. That earned an irritated sniff from Simone and a look from me. If she thought this was the time to move in then she had another thing coming. I might be emotionally distraught, but I wasn’t to the point of making a bad decision like having another try with her.

Getting thrown out of her apartment in nothing but a towel in the middle of winter had been enough to sour any chance of a romantic relationship even if we were still friends.

I looked down again. Normally when something like that happened I would’ve crawled into a bottle for a few days to try and forget the world around me, but I’d decided to do something else with the recent tragedy. Something constructive. Something that would make sure I was ready the next time something like that happened.

I was reluctant to announce it to my friends around the table though. I knew how they’d react and I wasn’t looking forward to it.

“What’s going on over here tonight?”

I tensed at that voice. What the hell was she doing here tonight of all nights? What the hell was Tanya doing at this bar of all bars? She knew I came here all the time. I was the one who introduced her to the damn place, after all, so why was she coming around here after she made it clear she didn’t want anything to do with me?

“Tanya!” Erica said.

A couple of other girls at the table smiled at her, but Simone frowned. She wouldn’t be too happy to see Tanya since she was well aware I’d been with Tanya before I ended up getting with her.

I’d been with a lot of girls at this table before ending up with Simone, but that was neither here nor there. On a campus this small you had to work through a friends group if you played for the same team.

At least that’s what I told myself.

“So nice to see you Tanya,” I said as I turned around to face her.

I don’t know who she thought I was sitting there with everyone else at the usual booth. I don’t know why she looked surprised when I turned around and locked eyes with her. More than anything I didn’t know what the fuck she was doing here when we’d made it absolutely clear that I got this place in the breakup.

Not that it was even really a breakup. More like we had a couple of good weekends which is more than most girls got with me and then Simone caught my eye and the rest, as they say, is history.

“Keri,” she said. “I didn’t expect to see you here. I figured you’d be off canoodling with the slut.”

“Hey!” Simone said, turning around and letting Tanya know she was right next to me as well.

“Oh wonderful, she’s decided to join us,” Tanya said. “Did the two of you really have to ruin things by coming out here tonight?”

“You’re just jealous that you’re not with Keri,” Simone said, a look of supreme satisfaction on her face as she said that.

I looked away. I didn’t want her to see that I was cringing. Tanya seemed to pick right up on it though.

“You should watch yourself Simone,” she said. “You’re gloating right now, but it won’t be long before you find yourself in the same boat I’m in.”

Simone glared at her and wrapped a protective arm around my shoulder. Or maybe that was a possessive arm from the way she pulled me closer. I’m sure the wheels were turning and she was thinking about all the other girls I’d been with and then dropped and wondering if she was next in line.

I knew she was next in line. I couldn’t help it. What can I say? I lost interest fast. I was all about the chase and I was okay with that even if some of the girls I dated weren’t.

“Are you going to sit down with us Tanya?” Erica asked.

I stared daggers at Erica. Not that it did a damn bit of good. She hit me with a wide smile that told me she’d done that on purpose.

Damn. I was starting to feel like I wasn’t with friends so much as I was with a den of vipers. And Tanya sliding in next to me was viper in chief as she grinned and scooted in close. That earned her a sharp look from Simone, but she didn’t say anything.

Probably for the best.

“It’s so nice being here with old friends,” she said. “Don’t you think Keri? So what were we talking about?”

“We were talking about Keri’s situation,” Erica said.

“What situation?” Tanya asked. She looked around the table and saw the looks. “Come on everyone. Who died?”

“My grandma, you bitch,” I growled.

I figured that might be enough to finally break through the cold exterior she’d built up whenever she was around me, but I’d figured wrong. She hit me with a flat look and shook her head.

“I’m so sorry,” she said in a tone that said she was anything but.

The bitch.

“That’s what I was trying to tell everyone before I was so rudely interrupted,” I said, shooting another nasty look to Tanya. She smiled as though she was glad to have me glaring at her.

Damn she was annoying. Once more I wondered why she decided to come here. I was trying to drown my sorrows with my friends, not deal with a crazy ex who was still pissed that I told her we were over and done.

“Ooh, this sounds like an announcement,” Tanya said. “Hold on a second. Let’s all get our drinks in the proper position. Ladies?”

I didn’t even bother fixing her with a dirty look this time. It was obvious they weren’t having the intended effect so what was the fucking point?

I would’ve preferred to not have Tanya around while I was making my big announcement, but whatever. She wasn’t consulting me about what I wanted so she could hear the big change right along with everyone else.

I ignored all the glasses raised in the air. I’d ignore the mocking from Tanya and pretend they were actually toasting me. It would’ve been nice if they didn’t go along with her though.

“I keep thinking about what happened with my grandma at the mall,” I said. “And I keep thinking about how I could’ve done something if I knew what I was doing. I’ve always done the easy thing in life. It’s why I chose the English major. I went with the major that wouldn’t be much work.”

That earned some irritated looks. Most of the girls at the table were in the English program or one of the humanities that was in a close orbit with the English program. Either way they didn’t look happy that I was dismissing it as easy.

Well fuck them. Erica was one of them and she deserved it for inviting Tanya to sit here with us when she knew what was going on between the two of us.

“What’s that got to do with anything?” Simone asked. “She had a heart attack. There was nothing you could do about it.”

She patted me on the shoulder. I knew she was trying to comfort me, but I also knew she was wrong. I didn’t even know how to do CPR. I was sure if I’d known what to do I could’ve saved her. It was my laziness as much as anything else that had killed her that day.

“Well whatever,” I said. “The point is I need to be able to do something even if there wasn’t anything I could do that day. So I’ve decided I’m going to go to med school.”

There. The news was dropped. And it fell in the middle of everyone with all the force of a bomb dropping. Simone coughed a couple of times and looked annoyed. Probably because I hadn’t told her anything about this.

What can I say? She was on her way out and she should realize that. It’s not like I was going to share something like this with someone who wasn’t more than a fling.

Erica nearly dropped her drink. Everyone else at the table laughed a little and kept looking at me as though they couldn’t figure out whether or not I was pulling a joke on them.

Well this was no joke. I was completely serious.

“You have to be joking,” Tanya said. “You? A doctor? You seriously think you can pull that off?”

“Maybe I do,” I said, suddenly on the defensive.

I figured the reaction would be bad enough from everyone else, but it was even worse with her sitting there looking for every opportunity she could to bring me down.

“I don’t see what the big deal is. I just have to take a few extra semesters of classes for pre-med,” I said.

“Don’t you have to have like a biology degree or something like that?” Barb said. “You’re talking about picking up a whole new major!”

“Not really,” I said. “All I have to do is take the prerequisite classes and pass the MCAT. I did a bunch of looking into this and I really think I can do it.”

“You? Research?” Erica asked.

“I don’t believe it,” Melissa said.

“Well believe it because it’s true,” I said.

“But what about the time?” Erica asked. “You’re going to be a junior. You have two years left. Switching up your major means you’ll be here forever.”

I shrugged. “I looked into it and if I start mixing classes now I can still graduate with the English degree and blow through all the prerequisites with maybe an extra year, two tops. Besides, I was planning on going for my doctorate when I was doing the English thing so it’s not like I wasn’t already planning on spending forever in school. This way I’ll make more money when I get out and I won’t be getting fucked over being adjunct faculty for the rest of my life.”

I got a few more irritated looks at that. A couple of the girls around this very table were probably heading for a lifetime of being fucked over as perpetual adjunct faculty. It was considered impolite to remind people of that fact even though it was the harsh reality in academia these days.

“Seems like a lot of work,” Barb said.

“Well maybe a lot of work is what I need,” I said. “I’ve been coasting for too long. It’s time for me to do something with my life and stop skating by on the bare minimum.”

“You can’t do that,” Tanya said. “You’re not going to do those classes and you’re not going to medical school. This is going to be like everything else in your life. You’re going to go full tilt with this for awhile and then you’re going to get bored and give up.”

Anger flared inside me. I wouldn’t be too happy about anyone saying that, but I really didn’t like it coming from Tanya. I saw red and forced myself to take a couple of deep breaths and let the ambiance of the bar wash over me and calm me down. I didn’t need to get into a fight and summon the bouncers.

“Well nice of you to show up and rain on my parade,” I said, turning on her and letting some of the anger I’d been bottling up loose on her. “Why don’t you tell me how glad you are my grandma’s dead while you’re at it? I wasn’t feeling depressed enough about that.”

She actually backed off. She blinked and scooted away from me. For a change that huge grin slipped and she looked worried about standing so close to me. For a moment. Then the smile was back.

“Never met her so I couldn’t tell,” Tanya said. “But if she’s anything like you then I bet she was a real bitch.”

Okay. That was it. I lunged for her but she slid out of the booth and took a couple of steps back before I could get to her. Probably a good thing. I instinctively glanced over to the bouncers.

They weren’t moving in our direction quite yet, but they were sure as hell giving us the eye and I knew the first sign of a real fight would bring them over to kick us out on our asses.

“I think you should get the fuck out of here Tanya,” I said. “I think you should get the fuck out of here and you should never come back. Otherwise I’m going to beat the shit out of you for insulting my grandma like that.”

Okay, so I wasn’t being the nicest person, but my grandma was one of my buttons right now and she’d just jammed her fist down on it.

Her eyes went wide and all the joking, all the amusement, was gone. I think she finally realized she’d pushed me too far. Way too fucking far.

If she thought I was going to let her get away with insulting my dead grandma then she had another thing coming. I’d figured even she wouldn’t go that far, but it proved there was nowhere Tanya wasn’t willing to go if she thought it would get in a dig at me.

Tanya dusted herself off and tried to look like she was still in charge of the situation, but I could tell from the way she stared down at me and then to the rest of the girls that she knew I’d won this round.

“Fine,” she said. “I didn’t want to hang out with a bunch of bitches who’d pick you over me anyways.”

That earned her a couple of grumbles from around the table and I couldn’t help but grin just for Tanya to see. She couldn’t have played into my hands any better if I’d asked her too. Not only was she going to get the hell out of here tonight, but she was going to get out of here with pretty much everyone at the table hating her guts.

I turned back to the table as she made her way to the door. I didn’t need to watch her to see what she was doing. I knew she’d get the hell out of here if she knew what was good for her.

“What a bitch,” I said. “Right?”

There were a couple of nervous glances but no one said anything. They all took drinks instead and I joined in. This was a night to celebrate, after all.

Though I couldn’t help but think about those looks as the night wore on. I was starting to think it might seriously be time to find a new group of friends if this is how they were going to act when Tanya came sniffing around.

I’d worry about that later though. For now it was time to celebrate.

2

Ashley

Studying. Nothing but studying. It felt like all I’d been doing for the past five years was study, and now here I was doing even more studying!

At least this time around I was getting paid for it instead of paying someone else for the privilege of pulling the sort of hours that would make the labor board come in and ask some serious questions if I wasn’t a student.

Not to mention I was pretty sure the labor board didn’t ask many questions of people in my chosen profession.

Doctor. It sounded so wonderful. Every time I thought about the first time I’d get a chance to put on that white lab coat with my name on it I couldn’t help but shiver. I’d been down to see one of my friends who was a couple of years ahead of me put on her coat with the little ceremony they had at the med school and it was wonderful.

I’d imagined myself doing the same thing on that fateful day ever since.

Now if only I could get a high enough score on the stupid MCAT to actually get in. That was the reason they gave me for not accepting me. It’s not like it was a bad score either. It’s just that when there are so many people applying for a limited number of positions having a good score wasn’t good enough. Not even close.

I pushed down that irritation and concentrated on the papers in front of me. Everything had to be perfect. This was my first year working as a TA and damn it I was going to be the best damned TA this department had ever seen. Just like I was going to be the best damned doctor the world had ever seen.

Assuming I could get into med school.

At least I could prepare for teaching just like I had everything else when I was still in undergrad. All my papers were in order and I’d been watching videos about teaching methods all through the summer session and trying them out on the one class I’d picked up to ease into things.

I still felt a little nervous every time I walked into a lab, but the more time I spent in that lab the better I felt about it.

“Burning the midnight oil?” a voice asked from the door.

I looked up and smiled at Charlie. She leaned against the door frame and had a winning grin plastered on her face. I might have gone so far as to say she had a sexy grin, but of course that only brought up embarrassing memories from earlier in the summer when I’d been pretty sure she was hitting on me and I’d moved in for a kiss.

The less I thought about that the better. It still turned my face bright red thinking about it, and from the way her grin widened it looked like she knew exactly what I was thinking about.

She stepped in and twirled an ancient metal chair around so she was sitting with her legs spread and leaning against the back of her chair with her front.

“You’re blushing again,” she said. “I told you not to worry about that. It was an honest mistake. Besides, I have a face that’s just begging to be kissed!”

Charlie had no idea how right she was, but I had a sneaking suspicion she knew what she was doing to me by mentioning it. I didn’t know whether to die from embarrassment or enjoy the memory of that kiss even though I knew it was the only kiss we were ever going to share thanks to her firm heterosexuality.

It was a damn shame. A real damn shame.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “I’m sure there will be lots of girls for you to pick up on once the fall semester starts, and don’t forget about all the eye candy in your class.”

I arched an eyebrow. “Did you seriously just suggest I date someone from a class? You know that’s frowned on.”

“Oh it’s not just frowned on,” Charlie said. “They’ll kick your ass right out of the program, but that doesn’t stop people from doing it.”

“Does that mean you’ve done it?”

“I’ll neither confirm nor deny in the interest of keeping my job,” she said. “But enough about me. What’s up with you hanging out here late at night doing a bunch of paperwork?”

I sighed and looked at the mountain of papers on my desk. It felt like it was never going to end. Sure I was doing a hell of a lot more than other TAs, but I wanted to be the best damn it.

That obsession was going to kill me someday.

“Just making sure everything is ready to go for my class,” I said.

“Looks like you’re going a little overboard there,” Charlie said. “I never did that much work when I was getting ready for a fall class. You’re going to kill yourself if you do that on top of your school workload.”

“Maybe,” I said. “But I want to make sure I’m prepared. The last thing I want is to screw up and lose my stipend. After fucking up the MCAT I’m starting to wonder if I was ever as prepared as I thought I was.”

“You’ll do fine,” Charlie said. “Everyone gets nervous their first time around, but if you’re already this over prepared there’s nothing to worry about. You should get out and have some fun instead. Enjoy being here free for the summer while you can. Get out there and live a little!”

I sighed. She had no idea how close to home that hit. After I was done here I’d make the walk across campus to my tiny little house I rented from a sweet little old lady who liked renting to grad students for cheap because we were less likely to throw wild parties. I’d maybe watch something on my laptop on WiFi borrowed from my neighbors and call it a night only to wake up in the morning and do the same thing all over again.

Yeah, it was one heck of a life.

“You know I’m going to be there when we have the get together on Friday,” I said. “That’s all I have time for though. I’m too busy prepping for everything to do anything else.”

Charlie stared at me for a moment. A long moment that made me more than a little uncomfortable. She had a way of looking at me with those blue eyes that made me shiver and I always had to remind myself that there wasn’t a chance of anything happening between us.

She’d made that clear enough during the kissing incident even if she’d been very polite about it and let me down easy.

“That’s bullshit and you know it,” she said. “I saw the way you looked when you went in for that kiss. When was the last time you went on a date with a girl?”

“Um. Maybe a couple of years ago? There were a couple of times when I went to the LGBT club, whatever they’re calling it this week, but I never did much more than go on a couple of dates with some girls I met there. Some girl named Tanya went a little crazy and scared me away.”

“Oh yeah? Well maybe it’s time you got out there and dated a little,” Charlie said. “I’m not saying you have to go to that group, but do something.”

I opened my mouth to protest and she held up a hand to stop me.

“Just hear me out. I know people who go wild. They go from person to person fucking anything that stands still long enough. I never knew there could be someone on the other end of the spectrum though,” she said.

“What are you talking about? There are people who don’t date all the time. It doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with them or anything.”

“Sure there are people who don’t date,” Charlie said. “But I’ve never seen a girl who looked like you who never had a date. Seriously. You’re wasting your youth and you’re ruining the potential good times some lucky lesbian out there is going to have when she gets you into bed. Think about it.”

I was flummoxed. I opened my mouth to say something and realized I didn’t have much of anything to say in response to any of that. If I didn’t know any better I’d say she was hitting on me, but I did know better. I knew there was no point barking up that tree. As much of a shame as that was.

“And don’t get any ideas,” Charlie said. “I’m trying to build you up here. I’m not trying to hit on you or anything.”

“I wouldn’t dream of thinking any such thing,” I said, even though I’d been thinking exactly that.

“You need to get out there and live a little. Date around. Have a good time,” Charlie said. “If you don’t then you’re going to look back on this time here in college and think about all the time you wasted when you could’ve been having fun.”

I sniffed and arranged some of the papers on my desk.

“The only thing I’m going to regret when I look back on this time is that I’m not in med school right now,” I said.

Charlie barked out a laugh. “You say so. I still think you need to get out there and live a little. Even if you’re not dating. Just go out and have a good time more than one time a week, because hanging out with Spencer and David and all the other guys at the roving TA party doesn’t count as a good time. Especially when there’s no one there you’re interested in banging.”

I let out a frustrated growl at the mention of Spencer. I would’ve been happy if I didn’t have to deal with him at all, but he had an office just down the hall and he went to all the same parties with all the other TAs so it meant we were stuck with each other whether I wanted him around or not. It didn’t help that he wouldn’t take “lesbian” for an answer when he tried hitting on me.

“What about you?” I asked.

“What about me?” Charlie replied.

“You’re here awfully late,” I said. “What’s your excuse? Shouldn’t you be out there living your life or whatever it is?”

“Oh well that’s easy,” she replied. “I’m terrible at taking my own advice, and my life is my own damn business thank you very much.”

I wasn’t sure if she was serious or not. The smile plastered on her face seemed to say she wasn’t, but I couldn’t tell. Either way it was a very Charlie thing to say. She was exactly the type to stick her nose in someone else’s business and then not bother to take her own advice.

“Well if you’ll excuse me I need to get some work done here,” I said. “Then it’s back to the apartment where I can watch my shows and live vicariously for awhile.”

Charlie shrugged. It was a very fatalistic shrug. “Suit yourself. Just maybe remember what we talked about here. You’re not going to look back on your time in college and wish you spent more time studying.”

“I am if I don’t get into med school this time around,” I said.

Charlie shrugged again and disappeared out the door. I heard her making her way back down to her office and the door slammed shut behind her.

Odd, that. Not that what she did on her own time was any of my damn business. A fact she’d be more than happy to remind me of if she could.

I picked up some of the papers I had to finish before class started. Charlie might think she could waltz into class and start teaching like it was nothing, and maybe that was something she could pull off.

I was going to come to class prepared though. I didn’t care if it meant I didn’t have a social life outside of class. I told myself it would be worth it when I had MD after my name and I was living the high life. I’d just have to put off having a real life and real relationships for another decade or so.

That wasn’t a high price to pay. Not at all if it meant I got to live my dream, damn it.

3

Keri

Crowds of students streamed into the science building all around me, but I stopped for a moment to look up at it and reflect on the odd twists and turns that had brought me here.

I wasn’t supposed to go to the science building. I was supposed to be in the English building on the other side of campus. I wasn’t supposed to be doing math and mixing chemicals and learning about carbon bonds and all that stuff, yet here I was cramming all that stuff in so I could maybe graduate in six years rather than the four I’d been planning.

“Something wrong?” Charlie asked.

I turned and smiled at my best friend for about as far back as I could remember. We’d grown up on the same street and been roommates ever since my first year and her second of college. At first in the dorms and now in off campus housing.

It was her help that had allowed me to make this change in the first place when I decided I wanted to make a change. I’d helped her with her homework from time to time and that helped convince me I could do this when the incident with grandma convinced me it was time for a change.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said. “Just thinking about all the changes that have happened in the last four years.”

“I guess it has been a whirlwind, hasn’t it?” Charlie asked. “But you’ll do fine this year. I wish something had awakened this hard sciences monster years ago. You’d be off at med school right now. I know people who’d kill for that.”

I grinned right back at her. “Well give it time and I’ll be out there anyways. So what if I’m a couple years late?”

A couple years late and a few tens of thousands of dollars deeper in debt, but I figured if it all paid off and I did end up getting into med school then a few tens of thousands of dollars would be nothing compared to the kind of debt I’d take on there.

Gotta love America and the wonderful post secondary education system that bled students dry.

“Come on,” Charlie said. “You’re going to be late to your lab and I’m going to be late to my office hours.”

“Oh yeah?” I asked as we started up the steps to the science building. “How’s that going? Any cute TAs this semester?”

Charlie leaned against one of the doors and let out an overly dramatic sigh. A couple of people trying to get into the building shot her an irritated glance, but she glared right back at them until they moved around her and found another door. There were seven others for them to choose from, after all.

This was Charlie’s territory. Unlike me she’d been coming to this building since our freshman year, and she wasn’t going to let anyone push her around. Not when she was a TA, which might be nothing compared to a prof or even adjunct faculty, but as far as the underclassmen were concerned that made her a god.

At least in her own mind.

“Not a single one of them even comes close to being eye candy,” she said. “Not even sugar free eye candy that sort of looks sexy if you squint at them just right or have a few beers. Can you believe it? The most action I got this summer was from a girl, believe it or not.”

“I don’t believe it,” I said.

“You’re just jealous I’ve gotten more action than you since you broke up with that Simone chick,” Charlie said. “If you can call a short kiss more action.”

I stuck my tongue out at her.

“You poor thing. Guess you’re going to have to look elsewhere for your hot guy fix this semester,” I said. “Go to the gym. Stuff like that.”

“I don’t know about that. There are always a couple of cute guys in some of the classes I’m running, but they’re all off limits. Not to mention they’re going to be mostly freshmen. Yuck.”

I arched an eyebrow. “What’s wrong with freshmen?”

“Are you kidding me?” Charlie asked. “Maybe things are different over in lesbian land where you hang out all the time, but with guys a freshman is so close to still being in high school that it’s not even funny. They spend the entire time staring at my tits and then talking about me when they don’t think I can hear them. It’s exhausting.”

“And I’m sure you hate it when they’re going on about how hot you are,” I said with a roll of my eyes. We both knew how much she liked that sort of attention.

“Are you kidding? I’m far from the hottest TA out there. Like I’m maybe second or third.”

“Second or third?” I asked. “Someone has a high opinion of herself.”

“And my students always have a high opinion of me. What can I say?” she said.

“I knew you liked the attention, you slut,” I said.

“Okay so maybe I like it just a little,” she said. “But they’re still so totally unfuckable that it’s not funny. They’re nice to look at, but the moment they open their mouths everything dries up down there.”

“You’re so crude,” I said.

I glanced around to see if there was anyone listening in on our conversation, but everyone seemed preoccupied with their own first day jitters.

“Stop that,” Charlie said. “No one cares. And besides, you’re missing the big point here. Even if I did decide to walk on the wild side it’s not happening with one of my students. I’m not risking the nice stipend and tuition package the university gives me for a roll in the hay with someone who isn’t old enough to remember when Tales of Elassa was a strategy gaming series and not an MMO.”

“If you say so,” I said. “Now can we get inside? It’s air conditioned in there and it’s hotter than one of your dangerously young freshmen out here.”

Charlie stuck her tongue out, but she followed me into the building. Cool air washed over me and I closed my eyes and inhaled the strange new scent of the science building. It was a mix of smells that were difficult to place. There was the usual college smell of a building that had stood on campus for decades, but mixed in were various chemical smells spilling out of labs all through the place.

There were no alarms going off so I was pretty sure taking in those smells wasn’t going to kill me or anything. That was another thing I had to get used to over on this side of campus. The ever present danger of someone screwing something up and causing a building evacuation.

The only time that had ever happened in the English building was when someone left a bag of popcorn unattended in a student lounge and set off the fire alarm.

I frowned thinking about the English building. I was going to have to really hoof it after my last lab of the day if I was going to make it to the other side of campus.

I might’ve switched to premed, but the funny thing they never tell people about premed is it wasn’t a degree so much as it was a collection of classes you had to have if you were going to be considered for medical school. It was up to you to get a degree while you were taking those classes. Most people were biology or chemistry majors, and I was one of the few weirdos who was going for a BA while taking science classes.

“Ready for another packed day?” Charlie asked.

“You know it,” I said. “I have a full schedule of the science stuff in the morning then I have to go over and talk to one of my profs about my senior thesis on the English side of things.”

“That sucks. Low-level science courses in the morning and high level English stuff in the afternoon,” Charlie said.

I shrugged. “To be honest a lot of the science classes are about as difficult in terms of how much time I have to spend on them. Despite your terror of language arts, English and essay writing isn’t really all that bad.”

Charlie eyed me sideways. “How much time you have to spend on them? I’ve seen your study habits. It’s a wonder you get the grades you do with as little studying as you do. I had to bust my ass in general chemistry.”

“Hey, this is still a change for me,” I said. “But I’m going to do it.”

“I know,” Charlie said. “And I admire that. You were always like that. You decide you want to do something and you do it. I’m proud of you, but… damn.”

I followed her gaze, but of course what she was looking at was nothing I was interested in. A couple of guys walked past who looked like they could have been kings of their high school when they were still at high school, but here on campus they were just one of a thousand other guys who were also the kings of their high school.

I guess these two looked okay if you were into that sort of thing. Tall. Muscled. Either they were upperclassmen who still hit the gym or they were freshmen who hadn’t discovered the free booze they could get at house parties off campus or down on frat row if they brought their girlfriends with them.

The house parties were a better bet though. I’d known a couple of guys who discovered too late that the free beer at the frats weren’t free, and the girl they came with to get into the frat party if they were unaffiliated was usually the price. Even if they were dating.

“What do you think?” Charlie asked.

“The same thing I think whenever you point out guys to me anywhere on campus. I’m sure they’re nice to look at for you, but they don’t do anything for me.”

“Okay, what about that group coming in behind them?” Charlie asked.

I followed her gaze with some interest. Charlie might not be into girls, but she was a good wing woman. Just like I tried to be a good wing woman for her when we were out on the town. She was usually a pretty good judge of what I liked in women, and the group of bubbly cheerleader types who walked in behind the guys were certainly what I liked. Even if they were probably all straight.

I’d learned long ago that straight could be a moving target. Life at college was what they called a “target rich environment” in the old movies. Full of girls who were willing to take a walk on the wild side once or twice so they could say they did it, and I’d always been more than willing to provide that experience.

I really was no better than Charlie. I just wasn’t as vocal about my horndogging.

“I see you checking out those girls,” she said. “You know they were in middle school when you were graduating, right?”

“Shut up,” I said. “Don’t you have to get up to your office or something?”

“Yeah, I guess I do,” she said. “And you have a class to get to, don’t you?”

“Definitely,” I said, my eyes following those girls as they walked down the hall.

It really was a distracting target rich environment around here. I wondered which one of those girls had been the prom queen. Maybe all of them. They all looked like the type.

That was the thing about college. At their schools those girls had probably ruled the roost, but here they were one of hundreds of prom queens running around.

I reminded myself that I was here to learn, not to ogle attractive girls. I did have a lab to get to and I was going to be late if I didn’t get my butt up there. I wasn’t going on a victory lap for nothing, and I sure as shit wasn’t going to waste precious time and a potential grade on that victory lap by missing the first bit of class.

“Do you know who your TA is for that class?” Charlie asked. “I might know her. I wish I was teaching your lab, but they don’t let us pick our students.”

“Is that policy for all the TAs, or just the ones who sit and play video games when they’re supposed to have office hours?”

Charlie stuck her tongue out. “What they don’t know isn’t going to hurt them or my prospects for teaching one of those classes.”

“Here’s the printout for my schedule. Looks like some guy named Reynolds?”

Charlie snatched the paper out of my hand and looked it over. Her eyes went wide and she let out a whistle before turning to me and grinning.

“Reynolds, all right. You have fun in that class and be sure to stop by my office after to tell me all about it,” she said.

“What are you talking about? I thought you said there weren’t any hot guys this year? Besides, how many times do I have to tell you I’m not into dudes before you realize you can’t live vicariously through me with this stuff?”

“Nothing like that,” Charlie said. “Trust me. Have fun in your class and let me know all about all the fun you had.”

I rolled my eyes. “Fine. You’re lucky I have to get to class, otherwise I’d get to the bottom of whatever you’re pulling.”

“Trust me, you’re going to have a great time in your lab! Don’t forget to stop by my office after and tell me all about it!”

And with that she was gone, leaving me standing there with a sparse crowd of students flowing around me. They were thinning out as people got to class.

I was going to be late myself, so I turned and jogged up the steps taking them two at a time so I wouldn’t be too late, wondering the entire time what the heck Charlie was talking about when she said I was going to have a great time in my chem lab.

4

Ashley

“You can do this Ashley. This is the big leagues, but you’ve got this.”

I looked at the reflection in the small mirror I’d taped to the cinder block wall of my office with some goop that was supposed to leave stuff hanging without peeling off paint. I’d find out if that gamble worked at the end of the year.

The chemistry department hated it when people did stuff to the walls and they had to call maintenance in to paint things over. Legends still spoke of one guy who made the mistake of drilling into the blocks. They said he was a promising phd candidate until that incident and after that his career was sunk before he even got it off the ground.

The rumors said he still haunted the halls of community colleges in the region to this day. I shivered thinking of that. I wasn’t going for my phd, but I also didn’t want to risk the wrath of the faculty.

I was here to get my masters, bolster my grades and get a better score on the MCAT, and then it was off to do what I really wanted and get the heck out of academia.

I turned back to the video I’d been watching. It was some motivational thing from a teacher. Sure the teaching she did was elementary school, but I figured there wasn’t much of a difference between teaching elementary school and teaching a bunch of college sophomores when you got down to it.

I hit play.

“And remember that if they’re starting to get crabby it might be because you’re getting close to nap time. I find that can be the most difficult half hour of the day, but if you get through it the rest of the day is snack time and fun until the buses arrive!”

I snorted out a laugh. Nap time. Now there was something college underclassmen got plenty of. I sighed thinking back to those carefree days when I didn’t have anything to worry about.

Of course at the time I’d been sure I had plenty to worry about. Get good grades so I could get into a good school.

Not that those good grades had done me a damn bit of good when it came to applying to the right sort of schools. Still, I’d thought I had it bad back then. Then I got to grad school and found out the true meaning of being busy.

Something pulled on my earphones. I let out a surprised yelp and looked up, letting out a sigh of relief when I saw Charlie standing in front of me smiling down with a knowing grin.

At least it wasn’t Spencer. He’d come into my office a couple of times and it was impossible to get rid of him once he was in.

I didn’t like it when Charlie smiled down at me like that. It usually meant I was in for trouble. I didn’t like trouble. I liked sticking to the program and making sure everything was going according to the plan. Charlie coming in here and terrifying me while I was watching pointers on teaching a class was not part of the plan.

“Why are you watching videos of some lady with a bunch of kids?” Charlie asked.

I blushed and quickly minimized the window. “It was advice on teaching classes.”

Charlie stared at the screen for a moment longer and shrugged. “Good point I guess. There’s not much difference between first graders and underclassmen.”

“Exactly,” I said. “I figured it wouldn’t hurt to get a few pointers, y’know?”

“But you’ve taught before. You did gen chem during the summer sessions,” Charlie said. “What’s the difference?”

“The difference is this isn’t a summer class. This is the real thing with students who don’t want to be in there and not the dedicated summer people. I want to make sure I’m perfect at this.”

“But why do you need to be perfect? You just have to be good enough to keep that stipend and that tuition assist, right? Save perfect for your actual work.”

“You wouldn’t understand,” I said.

“Oh I understand. Perfect Ashley sticking to the perfect plan so you can get into med school. You really need to stop and loosen up sometimes,” she said.

“I’ll loosen up when I’m out of med school and my residency, thank you very much,” I said. “And until that day I’m living school.”

“Well you’re not doing a very good job of it right now,” Charlie said.

“What are you talking about?”

Charlie mimed tapping at her wrist. It had been so long since I’d worn a wristwatch or seen anyone else wearing a non-smart wristwatch that it took me a moment to realize what she was talking about.

“Very funny Charlie,” I said. “You think I’m going to fall for that?”

“Fall for what?” she said. “I’m serious. You have a lab that started five minutes ago!”

My eyes darted down to the time in the bottom corner of my monitor.

Five minutes past the hour. Five minutes past when I was supposed to be up in my lab.

Shit!

I scrambled to grab the folder that had the lab plan for today. It was easy enough. Introductory stuff and going over some of the equipment and rules followed by a short experiment to make sure everyone in the room knew what they were doing.

We wouldn’t work with anything too terribly dangerous in the lab for this class, but it was still a good idea to identify people who might potentially cause trouble or were in need of more handholding as the year went on. I was not going to have any accidents in my lab thank you very much.

There was another girl who supposedly haunted the halls of local community colleges after an incident with a freshman who didn’t follow directions properly and messed something up with a fume hood. I doubted that particular chemistry department urban legend, freshmen weren’t allowed near anything dangerous under a fume hood in their classes, but it still served as a warning of the price of failure.

I wasn’t going to fail, damn it.

“Thanks for the warning,” I said as I moved for the door.

I stepped out into the hall and very nearly tripped over Professor Arnold. He was a short balding man with glasses that had been out of fashion for so long that they’d looped around and come back into fashion. He also always had a smile on his face and everyone loved him even though he taught some of the toughest courses in the program and was notorious for slaying people’s GPAs.

“I’m so sorry Professor Arnold,” I said. “I just realized I’m late and…”

Shit. I just admitted to senior faculty that I was late to my first class of the day. That wasn’t good. But he just smiled and waved me on.

“Go on then,” he said. “I remember what it was like to be young and teaching my first classes.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. Of all the profs to run into when I was running late he was probably the best. Still, I kept an eye out for other professors on my way down there. The last thing I needed was to get in trouble because someone who signed my paychecks realized I wasn’t in my lab at the right time.

It didn’t occur to me until I was well away from my office to wonder exactly how Charlie knew I was supposed to be teaching a lab right about now. I hadn’t talked about my schedule with her, but she also wasn’t around to ask. I’d have to file that away and bother her about it later if I thought about it, but right now I needed to get down to the lab and I needed to get down there ten minutes ago.

I swore up and down in my head. I couldn’t believe I got so carried away studying for teaching a class that I forgot about actually going to the class I was supposed to be teaching. It was ridiculous. It was going to be the end of my academic career before it got started if word got out that I wasn’t very reliable.

“Idiot,” I muttered as I stepped into the room.

The students didn’t look like they were having too bad of a time. Some of them were glancing at the clock and I heard a couple of them mentioning the five minute rule while others were arguing about how they heard it was the ten minute rule. I rolled my eyes and wondered if I could’ve ever been this dangerously young.

They were probably mostly freshmen if they were taking intro chemistry which meant they were all only three or four years younger than me, but that was an age gap that was starting to feel like an eternity now that I was the one teaching the classes and not the person at the desk learning. I remembered how old the TAs had seemed when I was the one sitting at a desk.

I wondered if they were looking at me right now and thinking about how old I looked. Damn. Time flies.

I stood at the front of the room for a moment and waited to see if they were going to get under control, but nothing happened. I blinked. Okay then. Maybe I didn’t seem as old as I thought. A couple of them gave me weird looks like they were wondering what the heck I was doing standing at the teacher’s island at the front of the room, but none of them were acting like I was an authority figure.

Finally I clapped my hands a couple of times to get their attention. They looked up.

“Okay everyone,” I said. “Sorry to disappoint all of you, but I’m afraid the five minute rule and the ten minute rule will not be letting you out of class early today.”

I paused and leaned over the table, then promptly stood up when I saw a couple of guys in the class staring. The profs here weren’t much for formality in the dress code so I’d worn a tank top for my first day which probably went a long way towards making me look like another student rather than a TA, but it fell open slightly and I could see them enjoying the goods. I fought the urge to blush.

The last thing I needed was to encourage some naughty TA fantasy in their mind. For one it was off limits, but most importantly none of the guys in this room had anything on offer that I was interested in.

A couple of the girls did, but again, strictly off limits. Not to mention they were all younger and I’d probably lose interest the moment they opened their mouths and started talking.

“Also a quick bit of advice to all of you since you’re new. There is nothing in the student handbook about a five minute rule or a ten minute rule. Follow that rule at your own peril,” I said.

A guy near the middle raised his hand. “Are you really our professor?”

“I am a TA,” I said. “That means I’m a grad student and I get to teach your lab, but I’m not a full professor. I’m also not much for formality so you all can call me Ashley.”

The crowd was about what I’d come to expect from a lab like this. There were the go-getters near the front who were leaning forward eager to suck up all the knowledge I was willing to drop on them. There were the good students near the middle who were ready to go but not nearly as excited as the teacher’s pets in the making in the front row.

Then in the back there were the ones who probably wouldn’t be there by the end of the semester if my summer experience was any indication of their future performance. They were the ones who weren’t going to put in the work this class took.

It was a pity. There was one girl back there who was looking pretty damn cute. If I was inclined to think about students in my class as cute, which I wasn’t because that was a dangerous path I wasn’t going to walk down.

I blushed and looked down to my notes. I needed a distraction from that girl in the back. I was about to get started with the lecture portion of the lab when I realized the same guy had his hand up again.

“Yes?” I asked.

“Are you sure you’re a TA? Because I’ve never seen a prof as fine as you!”

Ugh. So this was going to be one of those students. At least he was nice enough to let me know he was going to be a troublemaker at the get go rather than making me figure it out for myself. Still, it made me wish I’d gotten a good enough score on the stupid MCAT to be in med school right now rather than teaching a class of my own.

Wishing wouldn’t make it reality though.

“That’s not an appropriate question,” I said. “Now if we could get on with the lab for today, it’s pretty simple…”

I glanced down to my notes again and grabbed a piece of chalk. This room was old enough that it still had an old fashioned chalkboard rather than some of the new dry erase boards. Of course “new” was a relative term since the boards were probably installed back when I was still in diapers. None of the TAs got the fancy new electronic whiteboards that used a stylus to write on.

Before I launched into an explanation of what we were doing for the day, a simple exercise to point out the ones who were hopeless with equipment so I could know about potential danger moving forward, I stopped to look at that girl in the back one final time.

There was something that felt different about her. Sure she was in the back of the room, but she seemed so confident. Not at all like the other underclassmen who were looking up at me as though I held their future in their hands, which I suppose in some small way I did.

No, that girl didn’t look worried at all. She just looked like she was here and there was work to do and she was going to do it. Weird. You didn’t usually see that kind of poise and confidence in an underclassman.

I realized the students were staring at me and I shook my head. I didn’t want to get a reputation, so I got to work and endured the sound of cheap chalk squeaking on an ancient chalkboard as I walked them through the day’s work.

That girl was never far from my mind though. I could feel her gaze staring at me, but I brushed it off. There was work to do.

5

Keri

When I got a look at the goddess who stepped into the room and took up a position behind the island at the front of the class I knew exactly what Charlie was talking about. No one else in the room had noticed her standing up there looking absolutely gorgeous, but I’d noticed.

I’d noticed and I wanted to get to know her a heck of a lot better, if you know what I mean. It was a damn shame she was probably the one teaching the class. If what Charlie told me about the rules was anything to go by that meant there wasn’t a chance I was going to be able to get with her.

At least not during this semester. Probably not after the semester either. I wasn’t lucky enough for a girl like that to be into girls. Charlie was probably only teasing me because she knew I’d have some eye candy to look at for the duration of the semester.

Talk about some nice eye candy though.

“Damn you Charlie,” I muttered as the girl introduced herself, Ashley, then fielded some inappropriate questions from a guy sitting about halfway up the class. She did a good enough job of shooting him down though.

Yeah, she wasn’t interested in any attention from her students. Which was a damn shame because again, she looked like the kind of girl I wouldn’t mind giving some attention to. Of course if she was into girls then she probably would have been a regular down at the Alliance or at the very least she would’ve been at one of the bars or something.

I hadn’t seen her at either and she didn’t look to be that much older than me so I would’ve seen her around if she did her undergrad here.

Not that it would’ve necessarily been a good thing if she did hang out with the LGBT crowd on campus. I had something of a reputation, and a string of broken hearts and one night stands, with the L part of that group. So much so that it was getting difficult to find a date. Not that I had much time what with trying to cram four years of premed science classes into two to two and a half years tops.

The girl in front of me turned around and handed me a paper. I stared at it blankly for a moment and she wiggled it in my face. The girl was pretty enough, but she didn’t hold a candle to the goddess at the front of the room.

“Are you going to take the lesson plan or not?” the girl finally hissed.

Oh. Right. I was so preoccupied with checking out the hot TA at the front of the class that I hadn’t been paying attention to what she was saying. Still, could anyone blame me with the way her ass looked in those tight jeans as she wrote something up on the chalkboard?

I wasn’t the only one distracted by the sexy at the front of the class if the blank drooling stares from the guys in the room were any indication.

“Sorry,” I muttered as I took the paper from the girl. It had a simple lesson plan that was basically making sure we knew how to boil water. Probably so they could weed out anyone who was going to be an obvious danger to themselves or the people around them.

“Okay then,” Ashley said.

She clapped her hands together and a cloud of chalk rose in front of her causing her to let out a cute little cough as she tried to wave the cloud away. “If there are no questions then we can head over to the lab and get to work.”

As she said that she looked pointedly at the guy who’d made the inappropriate comment about her hotness earlier. It was a totally accurate comment, but not the sort of thing the guy could come out and say.

“No questions? Good. Let’s get going,” she said.

Ashley led us across the hall to a room in the middle of the building. As we stepped inside I realized I wasn’t in Kansas anymore. I’d expected something that wouldn’t have looked out of place back in high school. Long rows with gas lines and water lines and that sort of thing.

This was completely different. There were several rows of massive machines, fume hoods I think she’d called them, set up.

They must’ve been expensive because we were supposed to partner up. At least I think she’d mentioned something about partnering up. I couldn’t be one hundred percent sure about that because I’d been more interested in staring at her ass as she wrote on the chalkboard than in paying attention to the day’s water boiling exercise.

This was going to be difficult if it kept up. It was going to seriously affect my grade if I couldn’t pay attention to the lab because I was too busy paying attention to the teacher.

I walked around the room but people were already partnering up. I was entertaining a pleasant fantasy of getting to work directly with Ashley the sexy TA when I rounded the last row of fume hoods and saw my partner standing at the end of the row. Great. The guy who was going on about how hot she was.

He looked at me and grinned. Well then. Time to head that off at the pass.

“Don’t even think about it buddy,” I said as I pulled up a stool next to him. “I play for the other team, so don’t get any funny ideas.”

The guy shrugged and held out a hand. “Fine with me,” he said. “I’m Craig by the way. That just means we can talk about the hotties in this class together, right? Can you believe that TA?”

I rolled my eyes and looked down at the assignment for the day. He didn’t seem at all perturbed by the eye roll though. Great. Crass and unable to pick up on obvious social cues. This was going to be fun.

“I’m Keri, and could we maybe just concentrate on doing the work? I’d like to get out of here on time. I have to be across campus at the English building like ten minutes after I’m done with this lab,” I said.

“That sucks. You didn’t test out of your English stuff? I tried to test out of as much of it as I could. Can’t stand that,” he said as he started getting our supplies ready for the day’s experiment.

“Not exactly,” I said. “I’m an English major.”

“Whoa. What the hell are you doing over here in this lab then?”

“Decided I wanted to be a doctor too,” I said. “Sort of a last minute thing.”

“What made you decide that?”

I looked down and went quiet for a moment. In my mind’s eye I was back in the middle of a mall with people screaming as my grandma’s eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell forward. I shook my head and I was back in the real world. Back in front of a fume hood.

“I couldn’t help someone when I really needed to and I promised myself that would never happen again,” I said.

“Fair enough,” Craig said. “I thought about doing the whole med school thing, but I decided to be a dentist instead. You make about as much money but there isn’t all that life and death stuff looking at people’s teeth.”

I stared at him for a long moment. I’d never heard of someone talking about going into a branch of medicine in quite such mercenary terms.

I guess it made sense though. If you were in it for the money might as well go for the easy money. Then again easy was relative here. I had a feeling dental school was just as difficult to get into as med school even though I’d never looked into it.

I was starting to think that maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to be stuck as lab partners with this Craig guy for the semester. He seemed easy enough to talk to when he wasn’t drooling over a girl, and me telling him I was into girls seemed to be enough to get him to back off which was more than I could say for a lot of guys. Then he poured some water over my hand and I pulled it back and cursed.

“Watch it man,” I said. “If that was acid or boiling water you could’ve really hurt me!”

“What?” Craig said. He looked down at my hand I was shaking off. Some of the water landed on his shirt. “Oh, shit! Sorry Keri. I was just…”

He was talking to me, but the entire time he was staring down towards the end of the row of fume hoods again. I turned to follow his gaze and realized what had distracted him. It didn’t make me any less pissed off at him for being distracted, but I could understand the distraction.

Ashley walked down the row talking to the other people who’d partnered up. There were eight people in our row and she stopped to ask each of them if they needed help with anything.

I needed help. I needed a lab partner who wasn’t going to spill something on my hand the first time he got distracted by a smiling face and a killer body that didn’t belong on someone who was supposed to be teaching us.

Shit. Now I was doing it. Staring. That wasn’t good. She was coming right for us and I was staring like a goofball with a crush.

I hadn’t gotten it this bad since the time I had a crush on Karen Davis back in high school sophomore English and I think we all know the disaster that turned out to be. It began with me confessing my feelings over a study session at my house where I thought we were sharing something special and ended with “dyke” scrawled in lipstick all over my locker the next day at school.

I shook those unpleasant memories away. Karen Davis got hers. Turns out people these days were less cool with haters than they were with so-called dykes. Even in the social jungle that was high school.

Ashley was moving closer. Any minute now she’d be standing right in front of me and I wasn’t sure how I was going to handle it. I felt like I was back in middle school staring at my first crush and I hated that I was acting this way even as I loved it.

I hadn’t felt that rush in a long time. I’d gotten so used to playing the game on campus that it was just that: a game.

This somehow felt more real than that though, and that scared me just a little.

“You’re staring at the hottie teacher lady,” Craig said. “Don’t think she’s going to appreciate you doing that.”

“Shut up Craig,” I hissed.

“Come on, I don’t hold it against you. Have you seen the ass on that girl? I wouldn’t mind spending a little time after the lab with her if you know what I mean!”

I turned and gaped at him. I couldn’t believe he was talking to me like this. It was at the other extreme of the whole “admit you’re a lesbian to the guy who’s hitting on you” spectrum. Either they thought that meant they got a one way ticket to threesomeville or they acted like I was just as disgusting about women as they were.

I mean I could perv out with the best of them if I saw a girl I really liked, but I wasn’t going to perv out with some random guy I just met. This guy obviously had boundary issues.

“Everything going okay over here?”

I jumped as I felt Ashley’s hand come to rest on my back. She hadn’t done that with anyone else in the room. Had she? I’d been so busy staring at her that I hadn’t actually paid attention to what she was doing. Was that just a friendly hand on my back or did that mean something more?

“We’re doing fine,” I finally managed to get out.

I shot a warning glance to Craig to let him know he needed to sit down and shut the hell up, though I wasn’t sure if it was going to work.

“Yeah, everything’s great here,” Craig said. The way he looked her up and down made it clear exactly how great everything was and exactly why everything was great. I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

Men. There were times when I was so glad that a quirk of biology or whatever the hell it was made me into girls and not guys. It was a miracle women ever put up with them long enough to continue the species.

I also noticed that Ashley didn’t put her hand on Craig’s back.

“Good to know,” Ashley said. “No incidents or anything?”

She glanced at me again. I wondered if she’d seen that thing with Craig pouring water on my hand. I decided I wasn’t going to throw him under the bus though. Not on the first day.

“Nothing wrong so far,” I said.

“Also good to hear!” she said.

She was way too cheery for being in the middle of a class. Then again she was the one teaching the class so maybe that made all the difference.

She turned to Craig and fixed him with a smile that took my breath away. I was jealous he got that smile and not me, but the jealousy didn’t last too long.

“Oh, and I could totally hear what you were saying. I’m flattered that you think my ass is so nice, but if you want to get a good grade this semester it’d be a good idea for you to keep it in your pants and keep your mouth shut. I’m here to teach you, and I will never in a million years consider fucking you, so get it out of your head now,” she whispered just loud enough that the two of us could hear her but low enough that it wouldn’t carry anywhere else in the room.

“Um…”

Ashley held up a hand. “I don’t want to hear it. I don’t care how smart you are or anything like that. You’re in my world now, and you’ll be in a world of hurt if you screw up again. Got it?”

He looked down and blushed. “Sorry. I’ll try.”

“Do or do not,” she said. “There is no try.”

Craig looked up. Stared at her with a blank look as she stared right back at him with an expectant look. Finally she rolled her eyes. “Come on, you’re not picking up on that?”

“Picking up on what?” he asked.

I stared at Craig as though I was regarding some strange new species that wasn’t quite human. Sure he was obviously younger than both of us, but Star Wars was one of those things that had been evergreen in pop culture since the late ‘90s when those abominations that were the prequel trilogy started. I could still remember how excited my dad was when he took me to see Phantom Menace as a little girl and how quiet he’d been on the ride home.

“Star Wars?” I prompted him.

“Oh. I never really watched those movies. Always seemed like a nerd thing,” he said.

“I can’t believe you’ve never seen Star Wars,” I said.

“Amen,” Ashley said. “That’s like a crime or something. Someone should turn your parents in for child abuse.”

She turned to me and hit me with that thousand-watt smile next. I felt a little weak in the knees and I had to lean against the fume hood to keep my balance. I guess it was my turn. I wondered how much she’d heard. If she had any idea that I was interested in her as well.

One thing was for sure. I wasn’t going to make a move on her. Not when she’d just made it abundantly clear to Craig that she wasn’t interested in that sort of attention from her students. She was off limits. It was a damn shame, but I’d respect that.

“You’re sure there are no problems on your end?”

I had a feeling she was asking about Craig, but again, I wasn’t going to throw him under the bus on the first day. He could still improve, after all.

“Nothing wrong here,” I said. “We’ve got the tools, and we’ve got the talent.”

Ashley grinned. “That’s good to know, because we really haven’t had a successful test of this equipment.”

“What are you talking about? You haven’t tested this stuff? Isn’t that dangerous?”

Ashley and I both turned and stared at him. This was just another reminder of how dangerously young he was. Then again this movie was before my time as well, but my parents were into it so they’d shown me.

“Are you seriously telling me you haven’t seen the classic that is Ghostbusters?” Ashley asked.

“You mean the movie with the chicks that all those nerds on the Internet hated or something?” Craig asked.

“You watch your mouth,” I said. “Ghostbusters is a classic and I won’t hear you say anything bad about it. Even the new one.”

Craig shrugged and went back to the lab work. “Whatever.”

Ashley grinned at me. “It’s been fun talking with you Keri.”

I blinked. She knew my name. Then again she had to know my name. She had access to campus records and my picture would be in there right next to my name. I smiled right back at her.

“Nice to meet you too Ashley.”

She stayed there for a moment longer even though there was another row for her to visit. She opened her mouth as though she was going to say something but then she shook her head and disappeared.

Which was probably a good thing. My legs were so rubbery that I was about to collapse. I threw myself into the lab work to distract me from the walking sexy bomb that was my new TA.

6

Keri

I marched into Charlie’s office and slammed a hand down on her desk. I didn’t care about the class I was supposed to be sprinting for. This was a time for griping at my friend for trying to pull a fast one on me.

She didn’t even look up. She had a pair of noise canceling headphones on and the only illumination in the office came from light leaking in from the curtains she’d drawn over her window and the glow of her computer monitor playing over her face.

I frowned. Either she was really that engrossed in whatever was on her screen or she was purposely ignoring me. We couldn’t have that. I reached out and waved a hand in front of her face and she finally looked up in annoyance and then smiled as recognition dawned on her face.

She clicked a couple of times then pulled her headphones off, but not before I got a chance to look at her screen.

“You’re playing video games in your office?” I said, not quite believing it even as I could totally believe it.

“That’s not important. Did you have fun in your lab today?” she asked. “I saw your TA got there a little late. I hope you didn’t have too much trouble.”

“You knew exactly what was going to happen when I walked into that lab, didn’t you?” I asked.

“I might have known that Ashley has a reputation as the hottie of the department,” Charlie said, her voice maintaining a playful tone. “Why? Did you have trouble concentrating on your lab work with her strutting around in those tight jeans?”

“You knew exactly what I was walking into and you didn’t warn me,” I said. “You said there weren’t any hot people in your department.”

“Correction. I said there weren’t any hot guys. Come on Keri,” she sighed. “What was I supposed to warn you about? That there was a hot girl teaching your class? So what. There are lots of sexy teaching types on campus. It’s not like you’re the first person to ever have a crush on a prof or something.”

“I guess you’re right,” I said. “But damn. There’s something about that girl.”

“She gets that a lot,” Charlie said. “But so far she hasn’t been interested in any of the guys who went after her.”

I perked up at that. I searched Charlie’s face to see if she was trying to tell me something, but she only returned my look with a smirk of her own.

“She’s a real stickler for the rules,” Charlie said. “Doesn’t want to do something that might get her in trouble like date one of her students. You know how it is.”

“Oh,” I said, not bothering to keep the disappointment from my voice. For a moment I’d dared to hope that the delicious Ashley was into girls, but of course I wasn’t that lucky. Not that it would’ve mattered if she was into girls if she was really such a stickler about the whole not dating students thing.

“Come on,” Charlie said. “You don’t have to look so sad. You’re acting like I just told you the biggest box under your tree on Christmas morning was full of a bunch of coal.”

“That would be a great gift if it was the nineteenth century you know,” I said. “I don’t know why people always talked about that like it’s a terrible gift.”

Charlie stare at me for a long moment. Blinked a couple of times before shaking her head. “You’re such a dork sometimes, you know that?”

“Says the girl who’s going for her doctorate in chemistry?” I shot back at her.

“There’s a difference between being an academic and being a dork. I’m sure you and Ashley would really get along if you got a chance to geek out around each other,” she said.

“Actually we might’ve already done that just a little in the lab today,” I said.

“Yup. I knew it. The two of you were made for each other,” Charlie said.

There was that hope flaring up inside me again despite the rational part of me screaming that there wasn’t a chance anything was going to happen with my TA. Charlie kept beating around the bush and hinting at things without coming out and saying it and it was driving me wild.

“What do you mean when you say we’re made for each other?”

Another secretive grin and a shrug. “I’m just saying that I think the two of you would really get along.”

“Bullshit,” I said. “You’re doing that thing where you’re trying to be sneaky and it isn’t going to work now any more than it’s worked before. Why do you think we’re made for each other?”

“Maybe because Ashley is totally into girls and would be perfect for you if you weren’t stuck in her class?” Charlie asked.

I sat down on Charlie’s desk. I needed something to help hold me up because otherwise I was going to take a spill and then they’d have to call campus security or something to come and cart me off to the medical clinic and that would be a day wasted. More so than I was already wasting it.

“How do you know she’s into girls?” I asked.

“That’s easy,” Charlie said. “There was another grad student last semester who kept hitting on her. Wouldn’t take a hint and wouldn’t take no for an answer. The only way she got him off her back was by screaming at him in the hall that she was into girls and he needed to take a hint and leave her alone already. Plus she might’ve been the one who tried to kiss me over the summer.”

That reminded me a little too much of what had happened one level up in the lab. Ashley had come down pretty hard on Craig. Maybe she came down on him like that because she had experience with that sort of annoyance and didn’t want to repeat it. I couldn’t say I blamed her.

“Wait, she tried to kiss you?”

“Yup. Awkward. I let her down easy though.”

“How nice of you,” I muttered, thinking that I’d love to be in that awkward situation with her.

I leaned back on Charlie’s desk, stunned by this revelation. I needed some time to process all of this. Ashley was into girls.

“Are you sure she wasn’t just trying to get rid of the guy? That she wasn’t just tipsy when she tried to kiss you? I’ve made out with a couple of girls who were tipsy enough to do a little kissy kissy even if they were mostly straight,” I said.

That had been fun, but it wasn’t exactly a good foundation for a relationship. Or even a one night stand, though one of those situations had resulted in just that and an awkward conversation the next morning when the girl told me she totally wasn’t into girls and the whole night had been a mistake.

She’d been at the LGBT meetings a couple of months later after she was finally able to admit the truth to herself, but admitting the truth to herself didn’t extend to talking to the girl who helped her learn that truth in what had been a pretty fun night.

“You still with me Keri?”

I looked down at Charlie. She was staring up at me as though she expected something.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I zoned out there for a little while. What did you say?”

Charlie sighed. “I said there’s no doubt she’s into girls. She’s been pretty open about it even if she hasn’t really dated.”

“She hasn’t? How does a girl like that avoid being in a relationship for so long?”

“By being so busy trying to get into med school that she doesn’t have time for anything else,” Charlie said. “Not everyone can look at the pages of a textbook and automatically have it memorized like some people in this room.”

I stuck my tongue out. “I can’t help it I’m a fast learner.”

“Fast learner my ass,” Charlie said. “You didn’t have to study at all and you still beat me. I’m never going to forgive you for that.”

I grinned. “Well someone had to be salutatorian. Again, not my fault that I’m good at school work.”

“Enough about that crap. That was all over and done with years ago.”

I looked out the window and sighed. “Years ago. Back when I was dating the quarterback and doing the head cheerleader thing.”

“You don’t have to remind me how perfect your life was in high school,” Charlie said. “I was there right next to you the entire time on the same ride.”

I looked down at her and frowned. Shook my head. “That’s the thing. It looked like everything was perfect back then but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. I was miserable because I was living a lie. Things didn’t start to get close to perfect until I got to college and started living the life I wanted to live rather than the life my parents wanted me to live.”

“Oh come on,” Charlie said. “Your parents both love you and support you. You don’t realize how good you have it. There are kids who get kicked out of their houses because they come out of the closet.”

“Well yeah…”

“Anyways, enough about high school. That was all in the past. Let’s talk about the here and now and how we’re going to get you together with your hot TA.”

“What do you mean? It’s not like anything could happen. You just said it yourself. She’s not the kind who would date her students.”

Charlie gave another one of those fatalistic shrugs she was so good at. “Rules were made to be broken, you know. Especially for true love.”

“Spare me,” I said. “You know I don’t do the true love thing. I’d have a one night stand with her and then things would be awkward for the rest of the semester. I don’t need that kind of complication in my life.”

“I’m not saying you have to agree to marry the girl or anything,” Charlie said. “I’m just saying it might be a good idea for the two of you to hang out sometime. I think you’d really get along with each other.”

“And when are we going to find time for that? I’m busy studying and I’m sure she has a full schedule too. It’s not like we’re going to see each other outside of class.”

I saw the look on Charlie’s face before she could get anything out. It was the look that said she knew something I didn’t. It was the sort of look that said she was taking her duties as matchmaker very seriously this morning and she was about to drop another surprise on me.

Not that I minded the surprises she was dropping on me on this particular morning. They’d all been surprisingly pleasant so far.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Are you sure? Do you really want my help? Because I keep trying to set you up with this girl and you keep telling me why it’s impossible,” Charlie said.

“If you have a way that you think you could set us up then sure, I’m willing to listen,” I said.

Charlie crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. The thing creaked under her weight which was surprising considering how petite she was. It was the sort of chair that looked like it had been sitting there for a couple of decades, though, so it was entirely possible it was literally on its last legs.

“Willing to listen? Oh ye of little faith. That’s something you English majors say, right? Old fashioned language and all that?”

“We also say ‘cut to the chase and stop wasting my time.’ So are you going to tell me what you’re going on about or not?”

“I suppose I could help you out because you’re asking nicely,” Charlie said. “I just so happen to be part of a group of grad students in the chemistry department who hang out sometimes outside of work.”

“You hang out with other people outside of work?” I asked.

Charlie rolled her eyes. “Well I have to have something to do while you’re out there sleeping through the entire lesbian population on campus every weekend, don’t I?”

I blushed ever so slightly. Sleeping around was nothing to be ashamed of, but the accusation that I was leaving my friend high and dry while I was out having a good time was.

“Sorry about that,” I said.

Charlie waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t be. If I could pull in the number of hotties you do on the regular I’d be out doing that instead of hanging out with my boring friends too. The point is I have another social group that I’m part of.”

“A social group that Ashley is part of too?”

Charlie grinned. “See how smart you are? You picked up on that right away!”

“So you’re saying that maybe if I didn’t have anything to do some weekend you could maybe make me part of this social group that you’re part of that I’m not part of or something?” I asked, trying my best to sound innocent and knowing the entire time that I wasn’t doing a good job of it.

Charlie stared at me for a moment and then she went cross-eyed.

“Would you stop doing that English major thing please? You know I’m not good with the words like you are,” she said.

“What English major thing?”

“That thing where you use all those fancy words and try to confuse me. I don’t like it and I’m not going to help you if you keep trying to get me all mixed up.”

I sighed and rolled my eyes to let her know what I thought of that. I knew she was a smart girl. She wouldn’t be in the program she was in if she didn’t know how to string a couple of words together.

“Could we please get on with this? Are you going to do an introduction or not?”

“Maybe I can,” she said. “I know Ashley usually hangs out with a bunch of the other grad students at least one night a week. Usually Friday or Saturday.”

I arched an eyebrow. “Only one night a week? That’s it?”

“She’s pretty hardcore about getting into medical school, and she’s been hitting the books pretty hard on top of all the work she does for her classes,” Charlie said. Then she gave me another odd look. “Not everyone can look at a book and memorize it like some people in the room.”

“I can’t help it I have a good memory,” I said. “So what night are we doing this?”

“How about we go ahead and do both nights? If she’s there Friday then you get to have your chance. If she’s not there Friday then you get to know everyone and you can come back on Saturday and it won’t be as obvious that the only reason you’re there is because you want to get into your TA’s pants.”

“You make it sound so sordid,” I said.

“Sordid, true, whatever. You’re using your fancy words again, but no fancy words can cover up the fact that you want to get with her. Bad.”

I opened my mouth to deny everything and realized there wasn’t much point. She was right. Seeing that girl was enough to make me know I had to have her. Especially if she was into the ladies.

It’s not like I needed to lock her down forever or anything like that. That wasn’t how I operated anyways. The string of broken hearts following behind me on campus was proof positive of that.

It could be interesting getting with her for a little while though. Yeah. The uptight pre-med TA and the naughty student. The more I thought about it the more I liked it. The more I liked it a lot.

Plus I was sort of interested in meeting some of Charlie’s friends. My group of friends hadn’t been very friendly lately, and I’d been thinking it was time for a change. Maybe this was the change we needed.

“You’ve got that weird look on your face,” Charlie said.

“What weird look?” I asked.

“The look you had when you were telling me about that girl you met who worked down at the pizza place,” she said. “The one you were so head over heels for until you hopped into bed with her and then you weren’t anymore?”

“What’s your point?” I asked.

“The point is if I’m going to help you get with my friend then I have to know you’re not going to screw her over,” Charlie said.

The grin on my face must’ve said it all. That was a really poor choice of words considering what she was asking of me.

“And I’m not talking about screwing her over in that way,” Charlie said. She picked up a pen off of her desk and threw it at me for good measure. “Damn. Fucking English majors and your wordplay. I get so sick of that.”

“Yeah well what about that time you went up to the bio guy at the bar and told him you were DNA helicase and you’d like to unzip his jeans?” I asked. “English majors don’t have the monopoly on cheesy lines.”

Charlie colored at that. Good.

“The point is if I’m going to help you then I have to know this isn’t another one night stand,” Charlie said. “Ashley is good people, and I’m not going to be your wingwoman if you’re doing this to take advantage.”

I thought about that. I knew who I was. I knew what I tended to do when I was dating. I also knew how much fun it would be to get with this Ashley girl. The more I thought about playing the student and the naughty TA the more that had to happen. So I decided to fib a little.

“Fine,” I said. “I promise I’ll give her more of a chance than I do the other girls.”

Charlie regarded me with suspicion, but she had no way of knowing how much more of a chance I was going to give this girl. I figured a couple of dates might be enough to get Charlie off my back.

I just hoped it wouldn’t make things too awkward in class. Then again it’s not like she could fail me for loving her and leaving her. Not when she had to worry about me bringing the reason for the failing to the attention of the people running the chemistry department.

I was getting ahead of myself though. For now I needed to get with her in the first place, and that meant playing along with Charlie long enough to see if I had a chance.

I had a feeling my beautiful TA was going to be a tough nut to crack, but that only made her all the more alluring as far as I was concerned.

I couldn’t wait for Friday night!

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